Frogs of Winter
by Biscuit15
Summary: Squalo takes in an abandoned Fran, much to the initial displeasure of Xanxus. However, thoughts change and feelings evolve further down the line, and Xanxus soon knows he wants the aptly-dubbed frog for himself. Yaoi, Xanxus X Fran, X26, AU. Re-written.
1. Chapter 1

**I have actually rewritten this. I haven't changed any of the plot, but if you've read this previously, you should notice a drastic difference in writing style that should be of a much higher quality than what this was before. **

If there was one thing that pissed Squalo off more than any other, it was when Xanxus became so unreasonable about the fact that, though he _had _run out of his monthly supply of steak and wine, it was inhumane to expect his boyfriend to go out in heavy snow and freezing cold just to get more – than again, it was either deal with a bit of frostbite or be pulling bullets out of his body with a set of tweezers. It was a no-brainer, really; Squalo already knew which option he'd rather take.

Now don't get him wrong; Squalo would have _loved _to take his car down to the grocer's – he didn't exactly like treading through snow - but said vehicle was currently being repaired after a certain _someone _had put bullet holes throughout the Mercedes. Not that the man was naming anyone in particular, but _someone _should learn to control their anger and not shoot at such necessities.

"Fucking stupid piece of fucking..." Squalo angrily kicked snow out of his path as he tried to hurry the fifteen minute walk from the grocers to his home along and ignore the fact that the bottom of his pant legs were becoming saturated from melted snow. He wasn't happy _at all_, and he just wanted to get home - the fact that the moon bore down on him and it was too dark to see his surroundings properly didn't help his mood. "Goddamn fucking – who's there?!"

Squalo had sharp senses, and he knew footsteps when he heard them. These ones sounded small, as if they belonged to either a child or a very small adult. There was also a hint of uncertainty about the gait as it sounded as if they were hesitating every now and then, but the fact that they got louder with each thud told Squalo someone was approaching him.

The long-haired male prepared himself for the worst, confident in his strength to be able to fight off an impending attack – but though he had expected for a lot of things, it certainly wasn't for a tiny hand to reach out of the darkness and grip tightly the long jacket he was wearing.

The man tensed as a tiny body that was trembling rather violently pressed against his side for reasons he couldn't _begin _to fathom; why would a child approach him from the dark and attach to him like this? Had the child never been taught about stranger danger? Then again, he seemed to have a habit of attracting kids with little-to-no upbringing.

Nothing was said between them; Squalo just reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone so that he could use the light from the touch screen to illuminate the unexpected visitor; he may be rough around the edges, but he would never hurt a child; not one simply seeking what he assumed was comfort.

It was a very small boy, with teal hair that was splattered with snow. He was wearing next to nothing; a sleeveless white shirt and khaki shorts. His skin was an unhealthy shade of blue, a sure sign that if the man didn't do something soon, this boy was going to die. It made Squalo furious to know that there were such negligent parents who would allow their kid to wander outside like this; _he _would never let a kid endanger their wellbeing, especially not in a manner like this.

"Where's your house?" Squalo naturally expected for the boy to live on this street; a kid wouldn't get far in this weather wearing what this one was. The boy didn't reply, and his chattering teeth were the only answer the adult received. Taking a different approach, the man instead asked, "Why are you out here alone? Do you have parents?"

The kid shook his head. His emotionless emerald eyes looked up into Squalo's dark ones, almost as if he were searching for something. "...Mama... went to see her new boyfriend... She s-said... she didn't want m-me... to come... S-so to w-w-wait here for her... She e-even k-kept my... warm clothes... for when... she c-came back..."

"What the fuck?" Squalo was appalled by what he was hearing; as someone who had legal guardianship of a teenager, it made him sick to know that there were parents out there who didn't give a fuck about their kids; he may have picked his own charge up off the streets, but he loved his kid like his own child, and he couldn't _imagine _putting _his _responsibility into any kind of negligent situation; his kid was too precious to him. How could someone… _Do _this to their own child…?!

Squalo dropped his shopping to the ground and quickly shrugged his jacket off. He didn't hesitate to wrap it around the quivering body; he knew this boy had been abandoned, but it was their loss; if they didn't want him, Squalo would happily take him. "Bullshit. How long have you been out here for?"

"Long enough..." Tiny hands gripped the fabric tight and instinctively pulled it tighter against him; he was just so _cold…!_ "...I miss mama..."

"Forget that bitch."Squalo scooped the kid up into one arm and then grabbed the plastic bag with his free hand before continuing on with his walk home. "She wouldn't have left you out here like this if _she _cared about_ you_."

"S-she said... she'll be back..."

"That's a lie, brat." Squalo growled to himself as he kicked again at the snow mounds, taking his frustration out on the weather. "You'd have died if you didn't approach me. Why the fuck didn't you go to someone sooner? There are plenty of houses around."

"...Because... strangers are bad... But so c-cold..." Squalo recognised the desperation in the younger's voice; he used to hear it all the time in his charge after first taking his kid into his home. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and tried to soften his demeanour as much as possible; he didn't want to frighten the boy off because he was planning on keeping the child for himself; with an attraction to other men, he couldn't have his own kids as much as he wanted to.

"Well, _I'm _not bad," Squalo reassured.

"You're a s-stranger... Y-you could b-be..."

"Fuck no." The adult snorted at the boy's words. "If I was bad, I wouldn't have the annoying little shit I do that _lives _to make my life miserable."

The boy nodded, too tired to argue. "W-what's your n-name...?"

"Squalo. Yours?"

"...Fran... C-can I... call you g-grandpa...?"

"Hell no, brat!" Squalo was naturally a loud person, so it wasn't surprising he snapped at the question; as much as he would deny it, he was very sensitive to when it came to people thinking he was older than he actually was. "I'm not even a fucking grandpa!"

"Oh, well." The boy – Fran, as he had introduced himself as - just shrugged, as if he wasn't fazed at all by the man's response. When he spoke again, it was in a flat tone, one that sounded so blank, it didn't even convey the fact that the child was almost ready to freeze to death. "I tried."

"Little shit..." The man sighed. He was just glad he wasn't far from his home now. "Almost there..."

Fran let his eyes slip closed as he was carried, having not been so close to another person in a long time. His mother was distant from him, and she very rarely touched him in an affectionate manner, if she touched him at all. He was enjoying this so much, he almost wasn't aware of when he had been taken into a house; the only thing that had snapped him from his thoughts was the fact that all of a sudden, the temperature around him had increased to the warmth he had wanted so badly.

Fran looked around to take in his new surroundings. The entrance hall looked nice, he thought. The walls were void of any decoration, but they were a nice creamy colour that he thought looked pretty. There were several rooms branching off the hall with a stairwell further down from them, and a small passage beside it that probably led to the backyard or some other room he didn't really care about right now.

Just from what he could see in this moment, Fran liked this house very much, finding it to be much nicer than the hotels and apartments he had lived in with his mother.

"Voi! Asshole!" Squalo kicked the front door closed behind him as he shouted out to someone else in the house. He moved forward and took the first doorway on the right, bringing Fran into a large living room. There were bookshelves scattered against the walls that were filled with various things from DVDs and books to ornaments and photo frames. There was a widescreen TV mounted to the far wall with an entertainment system resting beneath it that held many devices Fran didn't think he had ever seen in his life. Two couches and a very expensive chair were situated in front of it in a crooked C, and said chair had an occupant resting comfortably in against the red material. "I got your shit!"

"Then fucking cook it, you stupid piece of trash." The chair's occupant, a man with dark-hair and scarring on his face, turned fierce red eyes to the silver-haired male. There was a wine glass in his hand, and Fran didn't miss the way fingers tightened around the base of it in annoyance. That was an action he was very familiar with; his mother always seemed to tighten her grip on whatever she was holding if Fran so much as looked at her.

"Fuck off." Squalo stepped into the room and dropped the shopping onto the coffee table in front of the fireplace before manoeuvring Fran so that the boy was sitting in front of the angry flames. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Don't care, trash; I'm hungry."

Squalo rolled his eyes as he took his jacket back from the boy and donned it once more. He reached out to pat a teal head in a semi-awkward manner before he said, "I'll be right back; I'll get some clothes for you to change into."

Squalo said nothing more to his partner as he stood back up and left the room. Fran locked gazes with red eyes, more curious than anything; now that he was finally getting a bit of warmth back into his body, he was feeling much better and almost back to his normal self.

"What's your name?" Fran questioned childishly.

The dark-haired man was silent for a few seconds as he scrutinised the newcomer before he growled out, "Xanxus. What the fuck are _you _doing here?"

"Grandpa brought me here." Fran remained emotionless as the other snorted.

"'Grandpa'?" A smirk crossed the other's face, genuinely amused by this nickname; he had called Squalo many things, but grandpa was one insult that had never once crossed his mind when it came to his lover. "Good one, trash."

Fran blinked innocently as he looked around. The first thing he really noticed was the chair that Xanxus was sitting in. It looked almost throne-like with the way it rested before the fireplace, certainly superior to any other chair he had ever seen before; in a way, it just seemed to demand respect. He then looked over to one of the couches and was surprised to find a second body curled up on it. They had their back to the teal-haired male, with messy locks of blond hair and a purple-and-black striped shirt that looked too big for their seemingly-skinny body. They were so still, the kid almost wondered if they were still alive.

Before Fran could open his mouth and question who the blond was, Squalo had come back into the room. He held a shirt similar to what the blond was wearing, but this one had red stripes instead of purple. There was also a striped hoody in tow, as well as a pair of black shorts and fluffy striped socks; if they belonged to the body on the couch, then they certainly had an obsession with stripes, Fran figured.

"Take that tattered shit off and put these on instead." Squalo tossed the clothing to his guest before he turned to the blond on the couch instead. "Hey, Belphegor... Wake up."

"He's out to it," Xanxus growled. He wished his boyfriend would stop messing around and get to work on his steak already; he was fucking _starving_. "He won't wake."

Squalo grunted as he reached out to shake a thin shoulder. He turned to look at the taller male with an accusing look in his eyes when the other didn't move in the slightest; he knew he couldn't exactly trust his partner when it came to his kid, and if Xanxus had done something to him... "The fuck did you give him?"

"Sleeping pills." The dark-haired male shrugged, truly not caring for anything that may have resulted from his actions; as long as he got peace and quiet, that was all he had cared about. "Stupid trash wouldn't stop complaining and it was pissing me off."

"You fucking moron, you _know _he's not supposed to be having shit like that!" Squalo sneered as he leant down and pulled the body into his arms. Long, lanky arms and thin legs dropped down towards the ground as their owner laid completely limp in the man's arms. "That shit's like giving elephant tranquilisers to a kitten for him. Simple medicine would have sufficed, dumbass."

"He'll live. Probably." Xanxus just twirled his glass around as he glared out of the window opposite him and out into the snow-drenched gardens. "Don't really care either way."

Squalo grunted again as he turned around and glanced at Fran. He found the kid only half-finished with his task of changing into clothing that_ didn't_ look as if it had been chewed apart by rats. He shuddered to think that there was a very real possibility of that being the case; he didn't want to believe a parent could let their child live like that. Grabbing the younger's attention, he said, "I'm just going to put this shithead to bed and then I'll deal with you."

Fran nodded. He waited until everyone had stopped looking at him again before he took off his pants and slipped the shorts on instead; they were big enough to act as pants for him, and he liked that.

Xanxus didn't turn to look at the boy until he knew Fran had dressed himself; he wasn't exactly interested in kids, after all. He snorted again at the sight of the younger, dressed in clothing that was far too big for his scrawny body; surely if the boy tried taking just one step, he would trip and plummet face-first to the ground. Xanxus, truthfully, wouldn't mind seeing that. "Trash."

Fran shrugged and sat back down in his spot in front of the fire. He tugged the hoody over him next, so happy to be warm again; he didn't think he had ever been in such a warm environment before, used to living in places that were absolutely freezing, no matter what temperature it was outside.

Squalo didn't take long at all to come back, and when he did, he had some blankets and a pillow with him. He was silent as he made up a bed on the couch before he turned the TV on and put the volume down just low enough to be heard but not bothered by if anyone fell asleep within earshot of it.

"There you go." The long-haired male patted the makeshift bed as he yawned, suddenly looking as tired as he felt; his eyelids were heavy, and he could feel his late night creeping up on him; he really needed more opportunities for rest rather than working himself half to death all the time. "Go to sleep and we'll go from here tomorrow."

Fran nodded before he clambered up onto the couch. A faint, barely visible smile crossed his face as he was tucked in, having never experienced such a thing before. He didn't mind the hand that ruffled his hair, instead finding it comforting. In the back of his mind, he wished his mother could have given him such touches, but he had never known gentleness from her before, and already he was liking Squalo more than her.

"Night, brat..." Squalo muttered as he stood up and grabbed the plastic bag he had abandoned on the coffee table previously.

"My steak. _Now_." Xanxus growled as he got up to follow the younger male into the kitchen.

"I fucking am, Xanxus!" Squalo snapped back. "Fuck! Patience!"

Fran flinched slightly as the living room light was flicked off, having never liked the darkness. He was just glad that light from what he assumed was the kitchen filtered in through the doorway, and the TV illuminated his surroundings as well.

Suddenly, Fran's exhaustion had hit him like a ton of bricks, and he was out to it like a light.


	2. Chapter 2

When Fran's eyes opened the next morning, it was to a smell he'd never experienced in his life; there was nothing about this scent that made his stomach churn in disgust like he was accustomed to, and instead it made his mouth water; what was the cause of this aroma?

Fran sat up on the couch and looked over the back of it towards the doorway. He wasn't sure where the smell was coming from, but he would most certainly follow his nose in hopes of getting at least a crumb of whatever was being cooked; he was used to not being fed, so he wouldn't complain if he was told no.

As expected, Fran found the source of the smell in the kitchen. Squalo was standing by the counter, playing with a square-shaped device the boy hadn't seen until now.

"What's that?" Fran pointed to the device as curiosity shone in his emerald orbs.

Squalo stifled a yawn before he turned around at the younger's voice. Fran wasn't sure what time it was, but it was early enough for the sky outside to be crimson with the rising sun; he couldn't recall having ever woken up so early before, but he liked it. "It's a sandwich toaster, brat. Want one?"

Fran nodded before he entered the adjoining dining room to take a seat at the table while he waited. His stomach was rumbling eagerly, and now that he was thinking about it, he was unable to recall when his last meal had been.

Squalo was silent as he finished off his own toasted sandwich. He put it on a plate and left it by the toaster before he prepared a second one moments later. While it was toasting, he started on a pair of smoothies.

The boy reached out happily when, after a few minutes, a plate was handed to him. He went to grab the first slice, only to have Squalo reach out and grab his wrist, stilling his movements.

"Wash your hands first, brat; you can get sick otherwise." Squalo was calm as he spoke, and he wondered if the kid had even been _taught _such hygiene before. Probably not, judging by the overall dirty appearance of the younger. "There's hand-wash on the sink."

Fran didn't question the other; he instead did as he was told, knowing that the sooner he complied, the sooner he could eat.

Squalo watched the kid clean his hands as he sipped at his smoothie in contentment; it was nice to have someone with him for breakfast who _wasn't _trying to chat his ear off so early in the morning – as much as he loved his kid, the younger really needed to learn how to shut up sometimes. He wondered just how laidback this child was; his own charge had taught him long ago that looks could be deceiving.

"So... I'm taking it you don't have the best mother in the world?" Squalo took a bite out of his breakfast as he waited for the answer.

Fran shrugged and took a minute to reply; he was much more focused on his food. He swallowed before he answered in a voice that sounded almost uncertain to a point. "I love mama... But I don't think she loves me..."

Squalo nodded. He allowed his demeanour to soften; he always had trouble expressing it properly, but he cared deeply for kids. "Do you _want _to go back to her?"

"..." The boy chewed at his bottom lip as he thought hard about this question. "...Mama... leaves me with Grandma a lot... I don't think mama really wants me around... I want to go back to her, but... I don't think I should..."

"I don't think you should, either." Squalo sighed as he rested his elbow on the table and put his chin in his hand. He regarded the smaller male with a soft expression, knowing there was _no way _he was letting the younger go back to his parent – not after the bitch had left him out in the snow like that. "You can stay here with us if you want; you'll be happier."

Fran nodded. He was too tired to argue; the truth was, as much as he loved his mother and wanted to be with her, he _hated _the way she treated him and didn't want to put up with it any longer. He didn't like how she never paid attention to him and always left him alone, and it made his chest ache whenever she would yell and hit him for reasons he didn't understand; all he had ever wanted was her approval, but he knew he probably was never going to get it.

"I want to stay, please," Fran requested quietly. He knew that strangers could be bad, but he had gotten through the night fine; surely they wouldn't hurt him?

"Alright. I'll talk to Xanxus later. He should be up in a few hours. Fucking lazy ass he is..."

Fran nodded before falling silent once more. He stared out of the glass doors and into the backyard. His eyes followed the trees and bushes that swayed with the strengthening wind, wondering if it was going to storm; it looked that way.

Squalo couldn't say he liked to see how quick Fran was to devour his breakfast and smoothie; he recognised the starvation Fran had just displayed, having seen it too often in his own kid.

"When was the last time you ate?" Not sure he wanted to hear the answer, Squalo winced internally; please let the child have eaten _something _in the past few days…

Fran shrugged. "Can't remember."

Squalo opened his mouth to respond, but he quickly closed it as his attention was grabbed by a very weak voice calling his name by the doorway. He turned around and didn't hesitate to stand up and make his way towards his charge's side upon seeing the younger staggering into the kitchen with a look of pain on his face. Putting his hands on frail shoulders to keep the boy from swaying on the spot, he asked, "Belphegor, what the fuck are you doing out of bed? Do you _want _to go back to the hospital?"

The blond – Belphegor, Fran had learnt – shook his head as a soft whimper escaped his lips. His breathing was ragged, conveying to the man that he was having trouble breathing. He wrapped his arms around his stomach as Squalo picked him up and he moaned and dropped his head to the older male's shoulder. "Squ-Squ… Hurts…"

"It's okay, brat. It's okay." Squalo shushed the blond as he carried the younger out of the kitchen. "Don't walk around; stay in bed."

Fran watched as Squalo left. So the blond was sick? Was he okay? He certainly hadn't _looked _okay; he had looked so pale, Fran had thought he was about to drop dead on the spot. He could hear phlegm-filled coughs from somewhere within the house, and they only added to his suspicions that the blond wasn't going to be alive long enough for them to get to know each other.

"Why the fuck are you spaced out?"

Fran blinked at Xanxus' voice, only just noticing the other had entered the kitchen; the man had been so quiet, Fran hadn't even heard him coming downstairs. He watched as the other moved to the fridge tucked away in the corner before he asked, "Is he okay?"

Xanxus shrugged before he pulled a plate of steak out into the open. He took it over to the microwave and then said, "Don't care. Shut the fuck up about him; I'm trying to eat."

"No, you're not; you're only just putting your food in the microwave – if you _were _eating, it would be in your mouth by now."

The dark-haired male snarled as he shot Fran a filthy glare. "Why are you even here? Didn't that bitch get rid of you yet?"

"He says I can stay." Fran was as emotionless as ever, having grown used to behaviour like this over the years; his mother tended to bring back some very questionable men to their home, so he wasn't afraid of Xanxus' aggressive attitude – he had been through worse.

"Fuck it; he's already got _one _shithead – he doesn't need another. Stupid blond trash already woke me up today..." Manhandling the microwave rougher than was required, Xanxus grit his teeth at the thought of the blond Squalo had forced into his life; he had never wanted the little shit in the first place, but Squalo had insisted they keep him. To make matters worse, all the blond had ever done was agitate Xanxus, making him resent the piece of trash more and more with each passing day.

Fran blinked innocently as he raised his cup to his lips again. He was intrigued by this man because, though he was loud and swore a lot, he had yet to raise a hand to him; every other man that had been brought home by his mother had done something or other to him, so why was Xanxus… _different? _

"Stop looking at me, trash." Xanxus slammed the cutlery drawer closed. "Eat your food."

"I'm finished, though... Can I have more?" Fran lifted his plate into the air to emphasise the fact that it was empty.

Xanxus grunted. "Ask the shark trash when he comes back."

"Okay." Fran put his plate down and waited patiently for the long-haired man to return. He couldn't help but notice that, once Xanxus had heated his steak up, he disappeared out of the room again. Did he not eat with the others? Or did he just not want to eat with _Fran? _

The child wasn't sure why, but the idea that he may not be liked by the older male hurt him.

_**~~XX~~**_

"Fran, this is Belphegor. Bel, Fran."

The two youngest males looked at each other. Fran's eyes held a curious look while the blond's were unfocused. Fran tilted his head as he stepped closer to the bed the blond was resting on before he reached out to poke a pale cheek.

"Belphegor looks like crap," Fran pointed out as he continued to prod the older male.

Bel growled as he swatted the hand away before tugging the blanket tighter around him in a self-conscious manner. "The prince does _not_ look like crap, you brat!"

"You forgot to add 'fake' in front of 'prince'." Tiny hands grabbed blond locks and pulled slightly; he was a child, and he wanted to play with Bel in the only manner he knew how. "Why _do _you look so crappy?"

Squalo sighed as he pulled Fran away from the teenager in order to get between them; Bel wasn't accustomed to other children, and with the boy being as sick as he was, this would surely only agitate his illness. "Fran, he's got pneumonia so he needs to be calm and relaxed. Don't antagonise him or I'll have to take him back to the hospital. Bel, shut the fuck up and go back to sleep. He's going to be staying with us from now on, and you can share your room with him."

"Aww, what?" Bel groaned. He didn't like this compromise at all. "This is the _prince's _room! Not _his_!"

"Get over it. It's not like we _have _another room to keep him in at the moment, you dumb shit, and he can't stay on the couch every night. I'll be in later to clean this fucking monstrosity of a mess you call a room, and you'd better be good to him or I'll crush your balls with my bare hands."

Bel groaned louder this time as he kicked his legs against the mattress like a child throwing a temper tantrum. "You can't do that to a prince! And why is he wearing _my _clothes?! I never gave permission for that!"

"You're lucky you're sick as shit, or I'd verbally tear you to pieces, you annoying brat." Squalo grabbed the phone that was resting on the bedside drawers and tossed it onto the blond's chest. "We're going out to get Fran his _own_ clothing and whatever else he needs. Call us if you're dying."

Bel just huffed before he rolled onto his side with his back to the two. He glared at the wall in dismay with a deep frown on his face; while he knew that Squalo loved him and that it was normal for them to talk to each other like this, he couldn't help but feel upset; he didn't like seeing the favouritism his guardian was showing Fran because it stirred up bad memories he wished he could forget. Did Squalo like that little brat more than him? Bel couldn't help but feel that was the case. "Whatever..."

Squalo snorted as he grabbed Fran's shoulder and pushed him gently towards the door. "Let's go, brat."

Fran took one look back at Bel before he nodded and followed the man out of the messy room. He tripped over junk a few times, but he succeeded in getting out_ without _breaking his neck in the process – how he had accomplished it, he wasn't sure he would ever know.

When Squalo stopped by the room next to Bel's, Fran realised that it belonged to the adults. It was_ much _cleaner than Bel's room, not a thing out of place except for the man that was lazing on the bed with a glass of wine dangling from his hand as he lazily stroked the fluffy white kitten curled up next to him. Xanxus turned to look at them with annoyance in his eyes, but he otherwise said nothing as Squalo stepped into the room.

"Are you coming or not, fuckhead?" Squalo growled.

Xanxus shrugged. "When's the taxi getting here?"

"Five minutes tops. If _someone _didn't shoot at the fucking car, we could have driven into town _ourselves, _you stupid fuck."

"You shouldn't have taken my keys from me, bitch." Xanxus sculled the last of his wine before he threw the glass opposite him, not caring as it shattered against the wall; all that mattered to him was the second glass of wine on the nightstand next to him.

"Like I'd let you drive drunk, you moron..." Squalo turned away to leave Xanxus to get ready. "Get your ass ready before the taxi arrives."

"Bitch-face isn't going to stay home with that sick piece of trash?" The dark-haired man got to his feet and pulled his shirt off in order to wear a thicker article; it wouldn't do for him to be cold, after all. "That's a first; you're more of a fucking mother than the faggot trash is. I guess I almost expected you to be sitting with that scum until he's better."

"Like hell I'm a mother. Belphegor's sixteen; he's old enough to know to call an ambulance if he needs one."

"And how old is _that _brat?" A large thumb gestured to Fran.

"...I don't know." Dark eyes looked down at the boy questioningly. "How old _are _you?"

"Seven." Fran looked between the two adults, not entirely sure of why his age was so important; shouldn't it only matter that he was here with them?

"Fuck, they're getting younger with each one you bring home." Xanxus shot an agitated glare at his lover. "Next one will be a fucking baby you've plucked out of a bin, won't it?"

Squalo rolled his eyes, taking Fran's hand in his. "Just hurry the fuck up..."

Fran followed the silver-haired male back downstairs and sat on the couch as he waited for the taxi to arrive. He watched the other pace around the room, wondering what was on Squalo's mind; why did it look as if his new guardian was badly bothered?

"You and Xanxus must hate each other." Fran didn't blink as dark eyes fixed on him, instead speaking his mind. "Mama always yelled at her boyfriends, and they called her names. Why are you two still together if you hate each other?"

"We _don't _hate each other." Squalo sighed. He knew everyone always assumed they hated the others' guts; it was natural with how their relationship was, after all. "It's just... how we act towards each other... I don't fucking know!"

Fran nodded. He knew it probably wasn't his business how the adults treated each other anyway. All that mattered was that he now had a warm home with working electricity, and someone who actually _wanted _to spend time with him – everything he had always wanted.

It would certainly be a nice touch if Xanxus and Bel seemed to accept him as much as Squalo did, but he wasn't sure if that would happen; from his previous life experience, he wasn't wanted by anyone. Oh well; even if they rejected him like everyone else did, at least he had Squalo for the time being. Fran guessed he couldn't ask for much more than that.


	3. Chapter 3

**A reviewer asked previously, how the pairing was going to work. It's a time-skip pairing, but I'm just establishing relationships and character development before I delve into the time-skip. **

When Fran returned home after his shopping trip, he was happy to change into the new clothing Squalo had bought for him; he didn't like how big and baggy Bel's shirt was on him, and he felt more comfortable having pants that he didn't have to keep pulling up to his hips all the time. He had happily left the bathroom once he was dressed in order to go downstairs and stand by the fireplace as Squalo lit it; he was finally feeling comfortable now that he was wearing good quality clothing for the first time in his life.

It wasn't every day that Fran got such privileges of warmth and comfort like this so it was natural for him to feel so focused on his contentment, he almost didn't hear Squalo trying to talk to him.

"Brat?" Squalo poked the younger with the fire iron, finally gathering Fran's attention.

Fran blinked a few times before he looked to his new guardian. "Huh?"

"Can you run some medicine upstairs to Bel for me?" Dark eyes fixed on the child as Squalo prodded at the small flames with the iron rod, agitated greatly by the fact that the fire just didn't want to cooperate today. "There's a bottle sitting in the door of the fridge; it has his name written on it. You won't miss it."

Fran nodded. He slipped his new socks onto his feet, greatly enjoying the feeling of warmth, before he left the room. While he was gone, Squalo looked over to Xanxus' chair and found the man sitting peacefully in it as he watched the younger male work with the fire.

"It would have been appreciated for you to ask for _my _consent before letting that piece of trash stay with us." Xanxus narrowed his eyes and sent an angry glare at his partner. "What if I don't want him here?"

"I didn't ask for your consent because you would have said no and sent him straight back out into the cold," Squalo growled. "You're fucking unreliable as it is; I'm not going to ask you when you'd have done shit-all had you said yes – what have you done with Belphegor? You always ignore him and act as if you fucking hate him; you did nothing to help me raise him, so why would _Fran _be any different?"

"Bitch, you _know _I hate people," the dark-haired male spat back. "I don't want to be around _anyone, _and you had better respect that, trash."

"And I _do _respect that, you dumbass; all I'm asking is for you to at least _try _and accept the kids – you don't have to spend hours with them, but maybe a few minutes out of your day would be enough to let them know you _don't _hate them."

Xanxus shrugged. The smaller male's words had no effect on him whatsoever; he knew he resented that blond piece of trash he had _never _wanted, and he didn't feel much different towards Fran. He doubted that would ever change, so far seeing nothing special enough in the newest trash to get his acknowledgement.

Instead of having a conversation he didn't care for, Xanxus changed the subject. "Where the fuck is Bester? He needs to be fed."

Squalo growled something beneath his breath before he stood up and threw the fire iron down onto the ground with more force than was necessary. "Then get off your lazy fucking ass and feed it! It's _your _stupid cat!"

"You'd wanna watch what you say about him or I'll throw your ass out in the cold," the older male threatened. "Now feed him."

Squalo was quick to leave the room, sick of trying to deal with his stubborn-headed lover; sometimes the man frustrated him to no end, and if he didn't remove himself from the situation, he would only lose his temper and start fighting. He instead muttered to himself as he climbed the stairs and headed to Belphegor's room to check on the two; he wouldn't put it past his blond charge to put up all the fight he had left in him to avoid taking his medicine.

Unsurprisingly, the closer Squalo got, the louder the blond's protests became.

"I'm not taking it!" Belphegor kept exclaiming. The mattress beneath him squeaked repeatedly like a several kids jumping erratically on a trampoline, presumably as he moved around in a fit. Squalo rolled his eyes as he moved close enough to the bedroom door to grab the handle and begin turning it. "Princes don't _need _stupid medicine!"

"Voi!" Squalo hissed as he stepped into the room, grabbing both of the younger males' attention; Belphegor had pushed himself against the wall behind him while Fran stood emotionlessly by his side, his hand holding out the bottle of medicine. Hating to see the way the blond's chest rose and fell haphazardly as his face continued to pale to extremely unhealthy shades of white, the man allowed his demeanour to toughen up; he had to make sure Bel was taking the medicine or the younger would only get sicker. "Belphegor, take the damn medicine!"

"No!" The blond stuck his nose up in protest as his arms crossed stubbornly against his chest. He glared at the wall behind his guardian, never able to find himself mad at the man who had given him more love and attention than his own family ever had done; he simply loved Squalo too much to become hostile towards him. "Squ-Squ _knows _I hate medicine!"

"You're so stupid sometimes, you shithead," the silver-haired male snarled. He reached out and grabbed hold of blond locks so he could drag Bel down onto his side. He rolled the younger onto his back before he sat on Belphegor's stomach and pinned his arms down by his torso, keeping the boy still. "Fran, tip it into his mouth."

Fran obeyed. He brought the bottle closer to the boy's face before he tipped it, only to stop as he realised Belphegor's thrashing head wasn't going to make it easy.

"Oh, for fuck sake..." The long-haired male easily brought his charge's hands together and took skinny wrists in one hand. He held them back down to the side as he used his now-free hand to squeeze pale cheeks and force Bel to hold his head still and open his mouth at the same time. "Do it now, Fran."

Fran didn't hesitate to tip the rest of the contents into the teenager's mouth. He stared blankly as the blond choked and thrashed once more to get away from the medicine. The youngest tilted his head as he brought the bottle up to his eye level so he could read the label; he couldn't be too sure, but he might have just poisoned the older male.

Squalo got off the boy as he moved to stand by the bed again before he patted blond hair in a semi-soothing manner. "You should know by now you're not going to get out of taking your medicine when _I'm _around, shithead – Xanxus, yes, but not me."

Belphegor frowned at his guardian before he turned to shove at Fran, not appreciative of the other's presence; why couldn't the other disappear and leave him alone with Squalo? Bel had been here first, and he wasn't going to share the attention! He slapped the bottle out of the small boy's hands with a growl as an upset expression crossed his face. "Stupid peasant! You can't treat the prince like that!"

"What prince?" Fran looked around the messy room with a blank look. "All I see is a stupid blond teenager."

"Little shit!" The taller male spat before he pushed himself into a sitting position. "I should –"

"- Shut the fuck up, Belphegor!" Squalo snapped. He shoved his charge back down onto the bed and gave him a serious look. "Go back to sleep!"

"But, Squ-Squ, he –"

"- I _don't _want to hear it!" Squalo sighed as he turned to look at the mess he was standing in. "...I'm going to clean this pigsty up, and once Fran's bed is delivered, I'll set it up on the other side of the room."

Belphegor whined as he shook his head. "But, Squ-Squ! I_ don't_ _want _to share my room with him! What if Mammy comes over, and _he's _in here?"

"Keep it G-rated." The silver-haired male shrugged. "You shouldn't be doing things like that anyway at your age."

"I'm sixteen! You had Xanxus fucking your ass since you were fourteen!"

"Exactly. Don't do it, Bel." Squalo reached out and put a heavy hand on Fran's shoulder as he turned to him next. "Unless you want to help me clean this fucking trashed room up, go and find something to do."

Fran nodded. He was silent as he went back downstairs. He entered the living room and found Xanxus fast asleep in his chair with a peaceful expression on his face. The child stared for a few minutes in fascination; Xanxus was someone who, when awake, looked fierce and powerful, but he didn't seem any of that when he slept; he was… relaxed.

Finally breaking his attention away from the man, Fran reached out and turned the TV on. He was quick to find the volume buttons on the side of the plasma screen, and he turned the sound down just enough for it to be a soft hum, not wanting to disturb the dark-haired male's rest.

Emerald eyes flickered over to Xanxus every now and then as Fran watched TV so that he could study the other in curiosity. He was careful not to wake him, worried that he may get in trouble if he did such a thing; he had been hit many times if he woke his mother or her 'boyfriends' up from their sleep, so he knew better.

Fran didn't mind; he was content with watching the TV until Squalo came back downstairs and asked for his help with lunch.

_**~~XX~~**_

"Shouldn't you be in bed by now?"

Fran looked up from the paper he had been drawing on in silence and looked into red eyes; Xanxus was standing before him, and the older male seemed agitated. The boy backed up a bit so he could get closer to the fire he was sitting in front of to try and fight away the chill in the air.

"It's nine o'clock." The man nudged the younger male with his foot. "Trash shouldn't be up so late drawing shit."

Fran didn't reply to this; he instead lifted the paper he had been colouring in so that he could show four stick-figures on the page – coincidentally, Xanxus noticed, they all looked suspiciously like themselves. "I drew us. This is me, Grandpa, Xanxus and the fake prince."

Xanxus couldn't deny that, for a seven-year-old, those drawings were well-done; they still held the childish appearance any kid would have done, but there was an obvious intelligence in the way Fran had put his crayons to the paper; there were details Xanxus wouldn't have considered a _kid _would add in – cartoonish-Squalo held the same bags under his eyes as the real one did, the oversized striped shirt Belphegor always wore had its bagginess emphasised on the page with a few shades, and even Xanxus' scars looked just like the ones they were based off of.

All-in-all, Xanxus was rather impressed – and that was coming from someone who barely acknowledged his own _lover_.

"I drew us because this is the first time I've ever really been happy and felt safe," Fran explained as he dropped his drawing back onto the hardwood floor. "Can I stay here forever? I like being with you guys."

Xanxus didn't reply verbally; he just shrugged as he turned around, too stunned to know what to say; he was so used to being hated and hating in return, the sudden warmth in his heart had taken him by surprise – one Belphegor or even _Squalo _had never been able to give to him.

Xanxus waved a dismissive hand before he sat back down in his chair and patted the arm as he coaxed the kitten lying by its side onto his lap. Fran cleaned up his mess and put the crayons back in the small tub they had came in before he put them on the coffee table. He grabbed his drawings and held them close as he stopped in front of Xanxus so he could stare into red eyes.

"Goodnight, Xanxus." With that said, Fran had disappeared out of the room, leaving a stunned Xanxus behind.

Squalo had been easy enough to find; he was in the downstairs office, sitting at the desk as he chewed thoughtfully on the end of a pen. He spun the desk chair around as he heard the door open, and his dark eyes softened at the appearance of his newest charge.

"What's up, brat?" the man questioned before he tossed his pen carelessly onto the desk behind him.

"Xanxus said I should go to bed." Fran held out his drawings as he closed the distance between the two. "I just wanted to give you my drawings first."

"Give them to me? Why?" Squalo accepted the pages as confusion crossed his features; never before had someone acted in this manner towards him – it was so foreign, it almost made him uncomfortable.

"Because I drew them for you, really." Fran shrugged. "Thank you for letting me stay; I like it here."

Squalo cleared his throat in uneasiness as he nodded. He carefully put the drawings down on a spare space on the desk before he replied. "That's okay, brat... Bedtime now; I didn't notice it was so late; Xanxus has me working like a fucking bitch on these reports."

Fran reached out so he could slip his hand into Squalo's as the man led him out of the office and towards the stairs. It was silent between them as they reached the top floor, and words were only spoken once the bedroom door had been opened and dark eyes narrowed at the sight of Bel sitting up in his bed with a laptop resting on his lap.

"Goddamnit, Bel!" Squalo snapped. He stomped into the room to take the PC from the teenager, and once it was tucked safely in his arms, he glared at the defiant blond. "You _know _you're supposed to be resting! Get some fucking sleep!"

While Belphegor protested against the confiscation of his laptop, Fran traversed the now-spotless room and headed towards the new bed that had been set up for him only hours ago. He pulled the blue comforter back as he climbed onto the soft mattress, glad to have something so warm and comfortable beneath him; he hated sleeping on the floor like he was so accustomed to.

"Goodnight, Squalo..." Fran pulled the blankets up to his chin as he rolled onto his side and looked at the two older males.

Squalo looked away as he cleared his throat again. He focused his eyes on anything but Fran as he replied; once again, this kid was putting him into situations he wasn't very comfortable with. "Night, brat..."

Bel had also rolled onto his side with his back to the others, but unlike Fran, he was silent as he closed his eyes. Squalo had made to leave the room, but he stopped to turn back to the blond as he remembered something important he had meant to tell his oldest charge earlier.

"While I'm thinking of it... No jerking yourself off while he's in here, Belphegor; go to the bathroom if you have to."

"Why are you thinking of the prince jerking off, anyway?" the blond countered with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Does Squ want to sleep with the prince? He's flattered and all, and he would love to say yes, but he's with Mammy so Squ can't sleep with the prince~ Sorry you missed out~"

"Voi!" The tallest shouted before he stomped his foot on the floor. "I was _not _thinking of you beating the fucking meat!"

"Oh. So you were thinking of going to do it yourself, then?" Belphegor turned his head and peeked out at the stronger male from beneath his blond locks.

A red tint crossed Squalo's face before he stormed out of the room without a word to be said. The blond laughed to himself as he lay back down and tried to prepare himself for sleep. He was just drifting off, when...

"Hey, Belphegor? What is jerking off? And why would you be beating meat? What did the meat ever do to you?"

The teenager groaned before he growled out, "You'll understand when you're older – now shut up and go to sleep."

Fran blinked a few times before he nodded, glad that the moonlight was filtering in through the window so he wasn't in complete darkness. It didn't take long, but soon he was fast asleep, dreaming of his new life with the other males.


	4. Chapter 4

When Fran awoke early the next morning, it was to his new roommate having a coughing fit. He rolled over to face the blond and pushed himself up so that he could see what was happening; the coughing sounded so choked, he almost thought someone was strangling the other.

Belphegor was on his back, twitching as thick, rust-coloured sputum rolled down his chin as it was expelled forcefully from his throat. It was clear he was having difficulty breathing, but before Fran could decide what to do, the bedroom door opened and Squalo stepped in and illuminated the darkened room with the light of his phone.

"Is he alright?" Fran tilted his head to the side as he watched Squalo swipe blond bangs back in order to put a hand to the younger's forehead.

Squalo was silent for a few seconds before he bit his lip and pulled the blanket from the bed. His dark eyes could see the way his charge was fighting for each breath, and the blue tinge that was starting to form on the younger's skin told him he had to get Belphegor back to the hospital as fast as he could; this was what he had been worried about after bringing Belphegor back from the hospital the first time, but the boy had begged to come home and Squalo had caved.

"I've got to call an ambulance, Fran," Squalo explained as he wrapped the shaking blond up in the blanket. "I don't know when we'll be back, so you'll have to stay here with Xanxus."

Fran just blinked as he watched Squalo take Belphegor out of the room, not quite understanding what had happened; he knew that the teenager was ill, but was it really that serious?

The child lay back down in his bed, knowing there was no point in him bothering Squalo; he would only get in the way and he didn't want to be a burden. He pulled the covers back over his frail body and rolled onto his side before he curled up into a ball, a little cold now that he realised the heater had been turned off in the bedroom some time during his sleep. He heard the soft rumbling of thunder from the sky overhead, and he couldn't help but wonder what time it was; the sky still looked to be black from what he could see out of the blinds.

The teal-haired male tried to go back to sleep, but the thunder only seemed to be getting louder and was keeping him awake; he didn't like loud noises and would prefer for silence, especially when he was so tired. Deciding he would get up out of the bed and find something to do since he knew he wouldn't be getting back to sleep any time soon, the wailing of sirens became audible, and he would swear not even a minute later they had stopped right beneath his window.

With a sigh, Fran got out of bed and left the room. He would have loved to go back to sleep, but there was no point in trying now that he was wide awake; he may as well find something else to do for a while. He stopped by the adults' bedroom when he noticed the door was still open from Squalo's departure, and peeking in, he found Xanxus still sleeping on the large bed with the blanket wrapped tightly around him, not a care in the world as he snored away loudly.

Fran noticed the clock sitting on the bedside table that flashed four-fifty-eight, and he could only wonder how Xanxus would have reacted if he had been woken by Belphegor's coughing fit; the kid could tell that Xanxus _really _didn't like the blond, and that Belphegor didn't seem to have to do much, if anything, to get on the oldest male's bad side. Knowing that the man wouldn't be happy with Fran as well if his sleep was disturbed, he wasn't deterred from climbing into the unoccupied side of the bed and curling up in the warmth that had been created by Squalo; having come to learn the comfort he felt from sharing a room with Belphegor, he didn't like the idea of having to sleep alone again.

It took only minutes before Fran was fast asleep, soothed by the scarred man's presence – something that he _knew _should have the opposite effect, but too young to understand; all he knew was that being by Xanxus made him feel so light, he could go back to sleep.

_**~~XX~~**_

"Oi, trash."

Fran blinked as he felt something hit him. He rolled onto his back and turned to look at Xanxus, finding that he had been assaulted with a pillow. It hadn't hurt in the least, but it certainly was a strange way of waking someone up; Fran was sure he would prefer Squalo's method of shaking his shoulder over being hit with a pillow any day.

"Why the fuck are you in _my _bed?" Xanxus growled. "Where the fuck is the shark trash?"

Emerald eyes blinked again for a few more seconds before Fran replied. "He said he had to call an ambulance."

"What for?"

"I dunno. Belphegor kept coughing, and it sounded like he wasn't breathing properly."

"Now answer _this _question; why are you in my fucking bed?"

Fran shrugged as he sat up and rubbed at his eyes. He glanced over to the clock he had been looking at last night and found that it was nearing eleven in the afternoon. In his usual monotone, he said, "I guess it just seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Get out!" Xanxus growled as he pointed at the door. "My bed is _only _for me and my _partner!_"

"I'll still get breakfast, right?" Fran was completely unfazed as he stared into Xanxus' eyes.

"What the hell kind of question is that?" Xanxus sneered. "One; I don't cook – I _won't _cook – and two; it's almost fucking lunchtime."

"Oh." Fran was as calm as ever, leaving Xanxus to wonder if the boy had even heard anything he had just said; this little brat was the first person he had come across who he couldn't seem to intimidate. "...Can _I _cook?"

"Do what you want, trash." Xanxus got out of the bed, stretching before he walked into the bathroom across from them. He locked the door behind him and prepared for a shower.

Fran watched the man leave before he wandered downstairs, wondering just how he was supposed to make himself food; he had helped Squalo with lunch, but he really hadn't paid enough attention to take notice of what the man had done. Should he maybe try and find something in the cupboards? Or should he just throw random things together and hope it tastes good?

Fran sighed before he said to himself, "Maybe if I'm lucky, it won't kill me..."

With that said, the child moved to the cupboard and searched for ingredients to make an experimental concoction. What he hadn't been expecting was for someone he had never seen before walk into the kitchen and head straight for him.

_**~~XX~~**_

Xanxus sighed as he turned the shower off and stepped out before grabbing his towel. He dried his body and ran the material through his sopping wet hair before tossing it away into the corner and leaving the bathroom to get dressed. He threw on black tracksuit pants and a dark blue button-up shirt, knowing his appearance wasn't important today; he wasn't planning on going anywhere so he would dress how he wanted.

"That little shit better not have started a fire in the kitchen..." Xanxus growled to himself at the thought. It was enough to make him hurry his pace up as he descended the stairs. "I'll throw him into the fucking flames if he has..."

However, to the dark-haired man's surprise – and immense relief, as much as he wouldn't admit it to anyone – there was no fire, and Fran sat at the dining table with a McDonald's bag in front of him, eating chicken nuggets.

"Where'd you get that?" Xanxus moved to the table before grabbing the bag and opening it. There was a cheeseburger and a packet of chips waiting inside, presumably for him – but where had this shit come from?

Fran lifted emerald eyes to red ones as his tiny hand never failed to shovel in nugget after nugget; Xanxus was convinced the boy would choke on it soon enough at the pace he was eating. He didn't speak; he just raised his unoccupied hand and pointed towards the living room.

Xanxus went to investigate, knowing there was no way in hell that kid had gotten takeaway by himself – not when the nearest McDonald's was a ten minute _drive _away and it was still snowing outside. Moving through the kitchen, he entered the living room and cleared his throat as he found two familiar males sitting on the couch and talking quietly amongst themselves as they watched the TV. They had their own McDonald's meals in front of them, and neither seemed to notice Xanxus' approach.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

The two men looked up. The one with the sunglasses and green part of hair was smiling calmly while the darker-haired, tan male looked at Xanxus with eyes just as dark.

"We were just visiting, dear~" The green-haired male seemed happy enough while his companion started shaking in excitement at the sight of Xanxus.

"B-boss~!" Both Xanxus and the other male frowned as the dark-haired one threw himself to the ground at the scarred man's feet, resembling nothing but a pitiful heap that pissed Xanxus off. "Boss~! I have news for you about the company!"

Xanxus kicked the man at his feet, ignoring what he had said. "Lussuria."

"Yes~?" The smile on the smaller male's face never wavered.

"How many times have I told you not to bring this pathetic piece of trash into my home?"

"Many times, hon~ But he was moping around the company seeing as you haven't been there for the holidays~ When Squalo texted me saying he had to take Bel-chan back to the hospital, he said you have another little boy now and I thought I'd come and see him~ Levi wanted to come and see you~"

Xanxus sneered as he stepped back from the one named Leviathan. "Whatever. Did you buy me food?"

"Of course~"

"You know I won't eat anything that slut hasn't personally made for me." Xanxus turned away and went to find something to do; he didn't want to be surrounded by employees when he was at work, much less at his own home; as far as he was concerned, they didn't exist for any other reason than to serve beneath him at his company.

"I'm sure Franny would love to eat it~" Lussuria's smile widened. "He _did _seem quite hungry when we gave him his lunch~"

"Whatever. Find something to amuse yourselves with until the shark trash comes back home." With that said, Xanxus was gone, not in the mood to deal with his subordinates.

"He can be such a grumpy pants~" Lussuria smiled at his own joke as his friend dragged himself back onto the couch, Levi looking dejected as always when Xanxus didn't give him the acknowledgement he craved. Never one to feel down, the younger male turned his attention to his friend and told Levi about his latest date, much to the other's annoyance; Levi didn't care for what the younger did in his spare time, after all.

They continued talking amongst themselves for a while before Fran wandered in with the last of the cheeseburger disappearing into his tiny mouth. He watched the two curiously for a few minutes before he approached them and stuck his tiny finger out to poke Levi's sideburns.

"You look like a catfish." The boy poked again, oblivious to the annoyance that was quickly rising in the taller male's expression.

Lussuria smiled as he reached out and pulled the youngest onto his lap. "Have you met Mukuro yet?"

Fran tilted his head. "Who's that?"

"Bel-chan's friend," the flamboyant man explained. "He lives just next door with his aunt. You should go and introduce yourself; I can't imagine it'd be very fun with just Xanxus for company; he's quite antisocial and prefers to be by himself."

"Is Mukuro nice?" There was a hint of hesitance in the boy's voice, but it was clear he was considering Lussuria's words; Fran was growing so fond of his new home that he wasn't sure if he wanted to meet too many different people just yet; he was sure he would rather get to know his family first.

"He is, yes; _much _nicer than Bel-chan is. I think you'd like him; he's a bit of an introvert, so he doesn't have many friends."

Fran _was _rather bored, and it was clear Xanxus liked being by himself; he wasn't sure if he should continue to bother the man or not, but he was only young, and he liked having attention on him – something he had never really gotten until Squalo had taken him in.

Cocking his head to the side as he decided he would at least meet Mukuro so he could potentially have someone to play with whenever Squalo and Belphegor couldn't be with him, Fran asked, "Is he home at the moment?"

Lussuria nodded before he put Fran down on the ground. "Want to go see him?"

"Okay." Fran slipped his hand into Lussuria's as he looked over at Levi with an expression as blank as ever. "Is Catfish joining us?"

The taller male growled before Lussuria spoke with amusement clear in his voice. "No, dear~ He's just going to stay here~"

Fran nodded. He let the man lead him out of the house and to next door; as neutral as he was towards meeting others, the idea of having a friend was rather appealing; he had never had one before, and he was curious about what friends were like.

Then he wondered; did _Xanxus _have any friends, or did the man enjoy being alone? If it were the latter, Fran could feel something in his chest; he had hated feeling so alone when he was with his mother, so how could someone willingly isolate themselves?

It wasn't a life Fran wanted for himself, and he sincerely hoped Xanxus didn't want it, either.

_**~~XX~~**_

"Where's Fran?"

Lussuria looked up at Squalo's voice. He and Leviathan had been playing card games together, and they hadn't even noticed the front door opening and closing. Squalo was carrying Belphegor in his arms with the blond wrapped tightly in his favourite blanket, and the boy was resting his head against the man's chest as his arms hung in a loose hold around Squalo's neck. He seemed to be fast asleep if the small, almost inaudible snores he made were anything to go by.

"He's with Mukuro," Lussuria explained. "I introduced them earlier and the two really hit it off. He's been over there all day."

"What's Xanxus been doing?" Squalo moved to sit down on the couch beside his friends and adjusted his hold on his charge so that he was nursing Bel carefully. He couldn't help but feel agitated at the idea of his partner having not taken care of Fran, but he also should have expected it; the only times Xanxus paid attention to Bel was to yell at him or mistreat him in whatever way it took to get the boy off his back. Squalo hated it, but Bel didn't seem to care that Xanxus hated him; attention was attention to him, whether good or bad – Belphegor would take whatever he could get, no matter what. "He should have been watching Fran."

"Xanxus is Xanxus, honey; you really won't get him listening to such requests. How is Bel-chan?"

"Little shit _should _be okay..." Squalo sighed as he threaded gloved fingers through blond locks. "He was struggling to breathe this morning, but he's pulled through it."

"Are he and Fran-chan getting along?" Lussuria leaned down and hugged Belphegor with one arm tightly.

"They're sharing rooms until we can get a renovator out. Belphegor's just being his usual bratty self, but he should come around soon."

"Well, he's not used to other kids – especially having one suddenly come into his house like this while he's sick."

"He'll have to learn to deal with it. By the way, give me a hand after this round; I haven't had time for card games lately."

"Sure thing, hon~" Lussuria was patient as Levi took his time, deciding what card to put down next. "Will you be starting dinner soon? Xanxus was complaining that he was hungry, but he refused to eat anything we gave him."

"That's because he's a stubborn prick." Squalo rolled his eyes as he adjusted his hold on Belphegor as he felt the other shift in his sleep in a quest to get comfortable. "I'll have to grab Fran from next door soon anyway, so he can wait for dinner until I've done that."

"Xanxus won't be too happy about that," Lussuria pointed out.

"Don't give a fuck; I've been up since four-thirty with _this _shithead, stuck in a hospital... No. He can wait."

"Poor dear." Lussuria could sympathise with his friend; he knew how hard it could be to deal with Xanxus at times, and when Belphegor was so sick, too... "You work too hard to make everyone happy; you should take some time off to yourself, sweetheart."

Squalo sighed, wishing he could do so. It would certainly be an early bedtime for him tonight; that much he was sure of.

_**~~XX~~**_

"Mukuro is really nice." Sitting on the edge of his bed, Fran swung his legs back and forth as he watched Squalo put an electric blanket on Belphegor's bed, the man having already had one put on the kid's before. "He gave me chocolate."

"That's nice." Squalo offered a small smile to Fran, one that he wouldn't show to anyone but his two kids; as soft-hearted as he was, it was something he hid from everyone else, not wanting his kindness to be taken advantage of. "He's a good kid; keeps Bel out of trouble. I'd be worried about where Bel would be if he didn't have Mukuro there to keep an eye on him for me."

Fran didn't quite understand what Squalo was saying, but it did make him remember that he had never asked about Belphegor's condition since they had returned from the hospital. "Is senpai okay?"

"Yeah; he just needs to rest more and stop stressing." Picking the blankets back up from the floor and making the bed again, Squalo turned to glance at Fran. "He's very upset that you're here, and I think that's why he got so ill this morning. His health is poor at the best of times so he shouldn't be getting so worked up; try and let him relax until he's better, okay?"

Fran nodded. He didn't say anything as he watched Squalo finish making the bed and then go downstairs to get Bel off the couch; he simply wandered over to the blond's bed once Squalo had returned and tucked his charge in tight beneath the blankets. Reaching out, he ghosted his fingers against the boy's cheek, knowing it wasn't normal for skin to be so cold to the touch; was Belphegor really okay? "Senpai worries Squalo."

Squalo nodded. He sighed as he patted Belphegor's head in affection before moving his hands lower and helping guide the younger onto his side as the blond tried to roll over in his sleep. "He's a good kid; he just gets himself into trouble sometimes. It's not his fault, though; he doesn't know any better."

Fran nodded before going back to his own bed. He sat down on the mattress and pulled his knees to his chest as he watched the older two; he had never seen someone be so gentle before. "How come you're nice but Xanxus doesn't like people?"

"That's just how he is, Fran." Squalo couldn't say that question didn't hurt him; unlike Bel who didn't care if someone liked him or not as long as he still got attention from them, Fran didn't like the scarred man's manners. He couldn't blame the child; even he found himself upset with Xanxus a lot of the time. "Was he nice to you today?"

Fran shrugged. "That drag-queen fed me instead of Xanxus. I think he was mad at me, and then the drag-queen took me to meet Mukuro."

"His name is Lussuria; don't call him a drag-queen to his face or you're going to upset him and you do _not _want to see that." Patting Belphegor's shoulder before he stood up, Squalo then moved towards the bedroom door. "I'm going to go to bed; I'm fuckin' exhausted. If Bel wakes up again, come and get me."

Fran nodded. He pulled his blankets back and laid down, enjoying the warmth his new electric blanket was giving him; he wished he had had one of these sooner because it was keeping away the cold chill he had lived in for so long. "Goodnight."

"Night, brat…" Squalo cleared his throat again before he closed the door until there was just a crack left; though Bel always closed it fully, the man needed to be able to hear if his charge was in distress or not.

Fran listened as Squalo's footsteps slowly disappeared further down the hallway before he sighed; how was he supposed to make Xanxus like him if the other was always like that?

It looked like Fran was going to have to pull off some serious charms, so as he drifted off into sleep, he tried to think about how he could gather Xanxus' approval. Somehow, commenting on how he liked Xanxus' ass gave him the feeling that it wouldn't work the way he wanted it to.

Oh, well. Maybe there were other things Fran could say that would make Xanxus like him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry, guys; I was going through my notes for this story and I've just remembered there's one more thing plot-wise I need to cover before I can hit the time skip, so that'll happen NEXT chapter instead. It has a big impact on the time skip chapters, otherwise I would have just left it out after already having confirmed the time skip. **

Within the few weeks that Fran had been living with his new family, he had come to notice many similarities between Xanxus and Squalo's relationship, and the one his mother had had with more men than he could count. There was hitting and yelling in both of them, as well as put-downs and the more obscure things Fran really didn't understand; there were touches between the two men, but unlike how it had been with his mother, they left to their own bedroom before they would take their clothes off and do things that the boy had seen done to his mother – the difference was that while his mother sometimes cried and screamed for those men to stop, Squalo seemed to want what Xanxus did to him. Fran was glad; it had always frightened him to watch his mother in those situations.

As well as in those few weeks, Squalo had enrolled Fran into a brand new school close by to their home. The youngest was happier at it over his old one, having been bullied for being different.

To add to the list of recent events, Belphegor had beaten his bout of sickness after one more stay in the hospital before he was well enough to go back to his own classes as well. Squalo had been relieved once his charge was well again, having mentioned to Fran once that the blond had been sick enough at one point to be on death's doorstep and probably wouldn't have made it had he not stayed for two weeks in the hospital.

Fran was glad Belphegor was better; despite the other being so moody and always upset with him, the younger liked having him around; he almost wondered if that was what it felt like to have a big brother.

Having been picked up from school, Fran stared out of the window of the car as he watched the world go past him. It was quiet between he and Squalo, the man worrying over something Fran didn't know about. In fact, Fran had been so lost in his head, he only just now noticed they hadn't stopped and picked Bel up from school until they were halfway home.

"Why didn't we get Bel-senpai? Are you still mad at him for wasting all of your shampoo?"

"Mammon's picking him up," the long-haired man explained. He slowed the car down and punched his horn when someone pulled out in front of him; if he had been doing the speed limit it wouldn't have been a problem – but not when he was doing well over the legal limit. He calmed himself before he turned his attention back to his charge, not wanting to direct his anger onto his kids; he would never forgive himself if he were to hurt them. "The brat said they had been planning lunch together after he finished school."

Fran had heard a lot about this 'Mammon' person, but he had never actually met them before; all he had been told was that they were dating Belphegor, and had a most peculiar obsession with money. The boy couldn't help but wonder about their relationship, believing it would probably be as abusive as the ones he had witnessed his entire life; he had never been given reason to believe that relationships could be anything other, after all.

"Bel-senpai doesn't really like me." Fran looked at his lap before he chewed at his lip. He didn't know why this fact bothered him, but it did; almost as much as the fact that Xanxus ignored him. "He's always trying to get me out of his room."

"He'll get over it," Squalo explained. "He doesn't like people in his room at the best of times. It's just a big change for him he's still getting used to. He didn't have the best childhood, so he's worried you'll take all the attention from him. He never really got attention before, you see?"

"Didn't he?" Fran had never considered that idea; Belphegor was a spoiled brat who craved the littlest attention; he didn't like it if he didn't get his own way, or if someone else was getting more attention than he was. The younger had seen for himself the way Belphegor would throw a tantrum and then attach himself to his guardian's leg like a leech and would refuse to let go. He'd also follow the man everywhere for the rest of the day as he talked animatedly about anything and everything that crossed his mind; knowing this bit of information really answered a lot about why the blond got genuinely upset whenever Squalo addressed Fran instead of him.

The man shook his head. "His older twin got all of it, so he never knew what it was like to be loved and appreciated. He actually ran away from home when he was just a year older than you. I found him rummaging around in our bins, looking for food, and he seemed so attention-starved, he didn't even hesitate to come into our apartment when I told him I'd feed him. His parents didn't seem to care that he was missing because no one ever came looking for him, and so I took him in and gave him what his parents never had."

Fran knew that would be a depressing thing to experience; he loved and missed his mother very much, but at least _he _had gotten attention from her, even if it hadn't been the most pleasant; no _wonder _some of the things he had heard Belphegor talk about had been so completely random, obvious and just plain simple that a conversation couldn't be held about it because everything involved was spoken about as soon as the topic was mentioned; the blond was probably trying to milk the attention in desperation of needing to be acknowledged, needing to feel as if he was _good enough_ for someone.

"Just give him time and he'll warm up to you." Squalo drove the car around the corner so that he could turn into the residential areas. "Be _nice _to him, though; if you keep making him feel like you're a threat, he'll get more upset with you. If you don't stop being mean to him, he's only going to grow more disconcerted."

"I'll be nice to him when he's nice to me."

"Stubborn little shit you are; just like Belphegor." Squalo rolled his eyes. "I must just attract stubborn asses..."

It became quiet once more as Squalo turned onto their street. Once the car had been stopped in the driveway not even half a minute later, Fran took his seatbelt off and tugged his bag up from the floor before carrying it out of the car and into the house with Squalo behind him.

"Make sure you have a shower before dinner, brat," Squalo called out as he disappeared into the downstairs study in order to finish off the work he had been doing before leaving to get his kid.

Upstairs, Fran had put his bag at the end of his bed. He pulled out what he needed and moved to the desk that rested in between the two beds so that he could stack his books neatly against the wall next to Belphegor's own textbooks. He didn't want to do his homework just yet, but he was still feeling rather bored; surely it wouldn't hurt to try and entertain himself for a while before he did his work.

Looking around the shared bedroom for something to do, Fran's emerald eyes locked onto the black laptop sitting on the end of Belphegor's bed. He knew he wasn't allowed to play with it, but he was curious; he had never seen a laptop before he came here and he wanted to know what one did on them.

Opening the lid of the laptop, the screen remained black. Fran pressed the lone button in the corner, having seen Belphegor do so before; was that the button to turn it on? He realised he was right as the lights lit up and a brief picture crossed the screen before a loading bar popped up; now that he had come this far, what did he do now?

Once Fran had been prompted for a password, he wondered what it could be. Then again... Knowing Bel... Tiny fingers keyed in 'prince', and to Fran's surprise, the blue screen disappeared and was replaced instead by what looked like lots of little icons against a black background.

Fran was intelligent enough to work out that the little pad and buttons at the bottom of the laptop helped him move around and click on things, and so far he had brought up seven different games. As their music blended together, he quickly realised he had no idea how to shut them off and that Belphegor would probably come home and realise the younger had been touching his things again.

Belphegor wouldn't be very happy, and that was putting it mildly.

"The fuck are you doing on that?"

Fran looked up at Xanxus' voice and found the man standing in the doorway. The older male glared at Fran, but for once it wasn't a look of anger or dislike; instead, it seemed as if the scarred male was curious. "I don't know. I think I broke it."

Red eyes rolled as Xanxus entered the room and sat on the bed beside Fran. He snatched the laptop from the younger in order to put it on his own lap and close off the applications. He then looked over at Fran to see the younger was lying next to him with emerald eyes glued to the screen; was the kid intrigued by his actions?

"Let's do a bit of snooping." A wry smirk crossed the dark-haired man's face as he clicked open the browser explorer to open the documents folder first; there had been many times where he had walked past the blond's bedroom and heard quick strokes of the laptop keys – he knew it wasn't homework whenever he heard this because the younger tended to take his time in typing in order to procrastinate and do other things on the PC; not type almost aggressively without hesitation.

Xanxus found folders for the blond's school work scattered amongst the hard drive, as well as other folders with varying names but not enough information to hint about what was in them. It was the unsorted documents with gibberish for titles that really caught Xanxus' attention; why were they not organised? Was Belphegor hiding something?

Upon opening the first one, Xanxus burst into laughter as he realised what he was reading was a raunchy fanfiction between two male characters of the blond's favourite TV series; he always had had a feeling that Squalo's trash was more perverted than he would let on.

"Trash, what was the password to get into this?" Xanxus made a mental note to take the laptop later and put these files onto a USB so that he could read them with Squalo without Belphegor knowing; he had never taken an interest in the blond scum before, but this was too good to pass up.

"Prince." Fran blinked innocently up at the older male as he tried to comprehend what half of these sentences meant; what was a dick, and why was it going into someone's asshole? Whatever an asshole was.

Xanxus chuckled to himself as he patted teal hair, somewhat liking this little shit; he had just brought him a new form of amusement, and if Fran could keep this up, he might even find himself tolerating the brat.

"What's next?" Fran questioned. He was enjoying their time together, and he was genuinely having fun looking through his roommate's laptop. He was almost considering asking the blond about what was on it, but then he decided against it; Belphegor would know he had touched his laptop and throw a tantrum.

Xanxus was silent as he closed the first document before opening the next one. It was another fanfiction, but this time with two female characters. The man liked this, enjoying the occasional dose of lesbian porn.

The third document was a journal of sorts, Fran noticed. The entries were dated, and while it seemed Belphegor added something new most days, it wasn't a daily thing for him. Xanxus scrolled down to the last entry, quite enjoying to find it was about him and Fran; he liked knowing that the useless piece of shit was upset.

_I hate that stupid toad, _the entry read. Fran didn't seem to take offence, almost as if he were used to it, and Xanxus just smirked again. _Xanxus never paid me any attention anyway, but then the toad comes along and they're all over each other's dicks. It's not fair; I'm a prince and I deserve attention – not some dumb frog._

"Suck it up, princess." Xanxus scrolled through the entries and scanned them quickly. He was quite amused, finding that they ranged from his emotions to things he had done, and there was even an entry that had been typed less than a year ago, obviously influenced by the fact that the blond had lost his virginity that day. "Pussy prince. Bet he didn't last ten seconds before coming."

Deciding he would move everything onto his USB and look at the rest later, the man instead clicked the video tab. He wasn't surprised in the least to find that all the hundreds of AVI files were various forms of porn; the boy didn't try to hide the fact that he was constantly horny. There was gay porn, lesbian porn, and the occasional hetero porn here and there, but it was hard to tell with Bel what gender he leaned towards the most; he seemed equally interested in both genders because he was always commenting on just about everyone person he saw about how he would fuck them if he could.

"Stupid little bisexual trash; he's got a better fucking collection than _I _do." Xanxus muttered to himself. He knew better than to click any of the videos up while Fran was with him; while he didn't care if the younger were to see them, it wasn't worth the headache Squalo would make if he found out. "I'm just going to take his whole fucking hard drive."

"What's bisexual?" Fran questioned, as innocent as ever.

"It's when someone wants to fuck both guys and chicks," Xanxus explained. "Go ask the shark trash that shit."

Fran nodded as he took the laptop when it was thrust towards him. Red eyes fixed on him with a warning gaze passing through them.

"Don't tell the trash we even _touched _it or he's going to throw a fucking temper tantrum over it." Xanxus stood up and headed towards the doorway in order to go back to his own room.

"Okay." Fran looked back down at the PC as he realised something important. "How do I turn it off?"

Xanxus shrugged without a care in the world for the wellbeing of the younger's laptop; Fran could throw it in front of a truck for all he cared. "Hold the power button down or something. I don't give a shit."

Fran nodded, knowing it sounded logical; if the button had turned it on, surely it would turn it off, too?

Doing as told, the boy was relieved to find the laptop had turned off once more. After placing it back down where he found it, Fran moved to his own bed as he decided a nap would do him well today; school took a lot of energy as it was, and so did snooping through Belphegor's personal business.

_**~~XX~~**_

Fran awoke to Belphegor's voice. He had just cracked his eyes open before he realised that it was accompanied by that of a female one he hadn't heard before. Opening his eyes, he found his roommate was just walking into the room with an indigo-haired female behind him.

"Bel-senpai?" Fran sat up on the bed as he rubbed his eyes. "Who's that?"

"My girlfriend, dumb toad," Belphegor growled. If he were a cat, his fur would have bristled; he hadn't felt so threatened by Fran's presence until his girlfriend had come around - he swore, if that little shit did anything to steal his girl from him... "Get the hell out of my room."

"But, senpai, it's _my _room now, too," Fran argued. "You can't kick me out when I'm on _my _side."

"Leave him be, Bel; he's not hurting anyone." The female was quiet, soft-spoken. There was something about her that made Fran feel at ease, quite similar to the way Squalo comforted him but somehow different. It was kind of like how he had imagined his mother's comfort to feel – but then again, he wouldn't know because she had never said a kind word to him in his life. "Don't boss him around like that."

Fran instinctively flinched at her words as he expected Belphegor to hit her; in his experience, men didn't like it when told what to do.

However, to the boy's immense surprise, Belphegor just pouted and tugged at the female's black jacket. "Mammy...! You're meant to side with _me_...!"

"You need to be told how to treat him, Bel." The girl just shrugged as her hidden violet eyes jumped from the two males in the room. She didn't seem to mind at all about the way Bel was clinging to her like an overly-attached toddler; she had had eight years to get used to his childish behaviour. "You don't understand; Squalo and I both know that."

"He's an attention whore!" The blond whined. He moved to stand in front of his girlfriend to block Fran from her view. Pointing at his young roommate, he raised his voice and spoke in an overly-dramatic tone. "_A~tten~tion who~ore_!"

The female rolled her eyes as she tugged Belphegor back to her side to put Fran back in view; she had to be understanding in this moment and acknowledge that while the boy was upset and didn't want to feel as if he were sharing, what truly bothered him was the idea of his girlfriend liking Fran more than him. It was expected of the blond to go to drastic lengths to keep her attention on him, but that didn't mean she had to let him behave like it. "No, Bel; I believe that's you."

"What's a whore?" Fran was genuinely confused by the fact that Belphegor hadn't hurt the other, and that she seemed to be able to say whatever she wanted to him without consequence – something he didn't understand at all; Belphegor was supposed to have beaten the girl to a bloody pulp by now.

"_You_." Belphegor spat with disdain, only to have his shoulder slapped by his girlfriend. He whined loudly as he stomped his foot on the ground before he turned around to face her with the biggest pout he had ever donned on his face. "Mammy...!"

"No, he isn't, Bel. Leave him alone."

Fran moved further down the bed as his curiosity about the newcomer started to overwhelm him; he wanted to know more on why she was the first person he had met who didn't seem to get hurt by their partner.

"What's your name?" Fran questioned as his emerald eyes watched the two curiously.

"Mammon. Yours is Fran, right?"

Fran nodded. He felt a little more comfortable now that they knew each other's names; did this mean she was going to be nice to him like Squalo was? He hoped so; she was truly the only female he had had contact with beside his mother. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-one." Mammon seemed completely at ease with the situation, despite the fact that Belphegor was continuously tugging at her hair and clothing to try and get her to at least look at him. She didn't give him what he wanted, trying to help him understand that just because she was talking to someone else didn't mean she was about to abandon him.

"Why are you telling Bel-senpai off?" Fran couldn't help but question this as his childish innocence knew no boundaries. "Aren't you scared he'll hurt you?"

Mammon blinked; why would Belphegor want to hurt her? She was the only one who would indulge in his crazy fantasies and listen to him when he just wanted to rant about nothing in particular. It was true he could get rough when he was too excited, but he never meant to hurt her on purpose; sometimes it was just hard for him to control himself when his excitement reached its peak. "Excuse me?"

"My mummy always got hurt by men," Fran explained. "And even here, Squalo and Xanxus fight a lot and hit each other. Does Bel-senpai hurt you, too?"

Indigo-hair swayed as the girl shook her head. "Of course not; he's my boyfriend and we love each other. Not everyone is in an abusive relationship, Fran."

"Why not?"

Mammon looked at Belphegor before she shrugged. "Because there are good people out there who don't get off on hurting their lovers or making them fear them? Bel, you'd better pay me good for this."

"Then how come I've never seen nice people together?" Fran argued. He wanted so badly to trust what he was being told but his young mind found it hard to believe that not everyone was in bad relationships.

"I don't know..." Mammon sighed. "I'm sure you'll understand when you're older, but for the record, no; Bel does _not _hit me or anything like that."

Fran nodded. He was satisfied with this piece of information; he didn't like the idea of someone so pretty being beaten up like his mother. He curled up on his bed as his emerald eyes locked on the older two, fascinated by how gentle they were with each other; there seemed to be so much love in their kisses and touches, Belphegor always draping himself around Mammon and nuzzling his cheek against hers as his smile brightened to levels Fran had never seen it at before. While Mammon didn't seem to be the physically-affectionate type, Belphegor more than made up for it; his hand seemed to be glued to Mammon's, and while the girl was sitting so quietly and reading a book, the boy couldn't stop hugging and embracing her and giving her kisses and caresses at random.

Fran had seen a lot in his short life, things he didn't understand but still haunted him. He wondered; would _he _ever find someone who would be as gentle with him as Belphegor was to Mammon? Or would he wind up in the same situation as his mother, as Squalo and Xanxus?

To be honest, the idea of being in a bad relationship seemed normal to him – almost inevitable, even if he didn't particularly favour it.

But was it so bad that he wished one day he could have someone to cuddle him like Belphegor was doing to Mammon? If it was, he wasn't about to stop.


	6. Chapter 6

Within the ten years that had passed since Fran had been taken in by Squalo, he had become much happier than he could ever remember being back with his mother – hell, now that he was older and more experienced, he could see for himself that his parent had never loved or wanted him in the first place and the best thing he could have ever done was approach Squalo on that snowy night.

The knowledge of not being wanted was painful, but he never let it bring him down; he had Squalo now, and the man showed him more than enough love. Xanxus had always been distant, but the scarred male seemed to tolerate him better than he did Belphegor; even after ten years, Xanxus' and Belphegor's relationship had only grown worse – and in a way, Xanxus and Squalo had grown bitter towards each other, too.

Speaking of Xanxus...

"What am I supposed to eat in the meantime?!"

Fran looked up from his book and sighed as he heard the two adults shouting at each other from upstairs. He instead laid himself down on the living room couch and tugged his blanket tighter around him. He had long-since grown used to their fighting, but it didn't make it any less annoying.

"I _bought _you plenty of steak to last!" Squalo shouted back before something broke from their bedroom. "I even _froze _shit for you to put in the fucking microwave!"

"You _know_ I won't eat anything unless _you _do it for me!"

"Well, if you didn't get yourself on the fucking no-fly list, you could have come with me, you dumb fuck!"

Grabbing the TV remote from beside him and turning the set on, Fran flicked through the channels until he found something that looked remotely interesting. He turned the volume up to drown out the fight before looking back to his book once his guardians' words were harder to make out; it would be a shame to let them distract him from what was happening so far in the story as it was rather intriguing.

"Fucking asshole!"

The loud thumping of someone coming down the stairs drew Fran's attention again. He was just in time to see Squalo step into the room, the man looking as frustrated as ever as he massaged a red mark on his cheek, probably from where Xanxus had hit him.

"Long-haired grandpa, is that going to bruise?" Fran closed his book and tossed it onto the coffee table before pointing at the man's cheek. He didn't like to see the man hurt like this, but he knew he couldn't do anything; this was between the two men and didn't concern him.

Squalo muttered something about long hair and grandpas before he shrugged. His eyes took on a dark look as he glared anywhere but at Fran; he couldn't take it out on the teenager when Fran was just upset. "Don't give a shit if it does or not. Brat, help me put my shit in the fucking car so I can get the fuck out of here."

Fran nodded. He knew that sometimes when Xanxus and Squalo had a fight, the younger man wanted to leave so that he could cool down without the dark-haired male there to continue to provoke him. It was fair enough; Fran knew for a fact that the scarred male would only egg Squalo on until the long-haired man truly lost his shit. "Where are you going this time?"

"Sweden. Got a big business proposal. Might be there a few months, so you'll have to keep _him _in line. Make sure he doesn't starve himself to death."

Fran followed his guardian up the stairs and into the adults' room, finding that Xanxus had already vacated the premises. He liked this; it would allow them to get everything sorted in peace. They grabbed Squalo's belongings quickly before heading back down the stairs; neither of them wanted to deal with the man if Xanxus decided he wanted to fight even more. They were silent as they made it out to the garage, and it wasn't until they had put everything in the car did they speak again.

"I'll ring and check up on you when I have time." Squalo patted soft teal locks as he grabbed the keys from his pocket. "Make sure you go to school and do your homework. If you need any help, give Belphegor a ring."

Fran nodded. "Bye, grandpa."

"Voi! You know I'm not a fucking grandpa! Stop calling me that, you little shithead!"

"Sorry, grandpa – Squalo." Fran watched the man get into the car. He couldn't say he was happy about Squalo going on a business trip; he had found that he was rather attached to the two men, and it had always disconcerted him a little to know that they were leaving him for certain amounts of time – if he could have it his way, he would go with them on every business trip they had so he didn't have to be away from them.

The youngest stayed until the garage door had opened and the sleek black vehicle had been reversed out. He waved slowly as the car begun to get further away; he didn't mind staying home with just Xanxus because the man was usually passed out somewhere or in his bedroom and rarely bothered him; it would mean lots of quiet time, and he wouldn't have to try and block out the heated arguments that had been occurring more and more often.

The only problem was, now that Belphegor had finally moved out of the house and into one with Mammon, it was _too _quiet and it made him uneasy; he didn't like the silent because of his bad past, having been left alone in the house for days on end while his mother went out getting drunk and fucking around. Feeling as if he were in those same situations was upsetting for him, and though he wouldn't show it to his new family, it was hard for him to fight against depression that would only attempt to swallow him in those moments. He didn't want to come off as needy or anything like that, but sometimes he _needed _the presence of others around him to make him feel happy and comfortable.

Once Fran watched the garage door shut again, he entered the house again. Passing the living room and heading straight for the kitchen, he soon poured himself a glass of soda. He took it upstairs, walking past the room he had once shared with Belphegor and to the one that had eventually been renovated just for him at the end of the hall.

Fran was appreciative of how quickly Squalo had had the spare room renovated for him; he had only had to spend a few months sharing a room with Bel until it had been completed, but the renovations had begun almost immediately and were finished as quickly as possible. The contractor had done a very good job, too; his room was as large was Belphegor's, though the blond had complained of Fran getting 'special treatment' because he 'got a bigger bedroom'.

Moving over to his bed pressed against the far wall, Fan sat down on the soft mattress. He put his cup on the windowsill next to his bed, having no need for a nightstand; the sill was satisfactory for whenever he needed to put something next to him. Reaching down beneath the bed, he pulled his laptop out and logged in, deciding that he would quickly check his Facebook and emails before taking a rest. Once he was satisfied with the computer, he closed the lid and slid it back where he had found it before taking a remote out from under his pillow and turning the TV on.

After getting up to place a DVD in the player, the teen returned to his bed so that he could lay down. He had only watched the TV for only a few minutes before he let his eyes slip closed, beginning to find it growing harder and harder to keep them open. Sure enough, he soon slipped into oblivion; he hadn't realised how tired he was until he could finally sleep without his guardians' fights disturbing him.

_**~~XX~~**_

Xanxus was agitated. He wasn't used to being left home while Squalo went overseas on business, but ever since their last flight to Germany, the man had gotten himself barred from flying after exploding at both Squalo and the hostess when told there was no steak on board. It was a stupid overreaction on their behalves; didn't they know a man needed to eat.

Xanxus didn't trust Squalo to go by himself, especially for several months; there was no telling who the younger would meet, and if the dark-haired man ever found out that Squalo was cheating on him...

And then there was the fact that his lover wasn't there to cook for him now. Xanxus was _not _happy.

Xanxus kicked over the desk he had been sitting at before he picked the swivel chair up and threw it through the window. He was so angry, he couldn't stop himself from shouting incomprehensibly; he wasn't used to not having Squalo with him, much less for as long as this business meeting would take, and he _didn't _like it.

Storming out of the downstairs office and instead going to the kitchen, Xanxus grabbed a bottle of wine from the fridge. He snatched a wineglass from the dish rack and then stomped into the living room to sit in his own chair; this was _exactly _why Squalo shouldn't be going alone because who else would get the man's shit for him with the long-haired male gone? He glared at the TV for a few seconds before he threw his empty wineglass at the plasma screen, in a fouler mood than he had been in a while; something about Squalo going to Sweden without him pissed him off more than he had thought it would until the other was actually gone.

Trying to distract himself from his anger, Xanxus got up from his chair and left the living room in order to find his cat, only just now realising he hadn't seen his pet all day; if that stupid bitch had let him out... Having already been drinking heavily earlier in the day, Xanxus stumbled through the house. "Bester!"

Having not found the animal anywhere downstairs, Xanxus went to search the second storey. There was still no trace of Bester; even the now-unused bed in Belphegor's old room was empty, and that was where Bester tended to sleep now.

Hissing to himself in annoyance, Xanxus moved to Fran's bedroom. The door was wide open, the soft hum of the boy's TV audible through the hall. Poking his head in, Xanxus found the teenager curled up in the blankets with a peaceful expression on his face as he took his nap.

"Hey, trash." Xanxus kicked the door and startled Fran back into waking consciousness. He waited until blurred teal eyes were focused on him before he said, "Where the fuck's Bester?"

Fran yawned as he reached up to rub his eyes. "I let him out before."

"You dumb fuck, you know he gets under the house. Go get him before he gets stuck again."

Fran blinked before he nodded and got out of bed. He could tell that Xanxus was drunk because compared to ten years ago, the man had mellowed out somewhat these days; he really only became this aggressive if he had drank too much because something had angered him - in this case, it was Squalo's departure.

Xanxus followed the boy back to the ground floor and out of the house, stalking Fran as the younger called out for the cat. They made their way over to the crawl space beneath the house, knowing Bester had a habit of hiding beneath the building, and there was no _way _Xanxus was crawling around in the dirt and who-knows-what himself – not when there were others to do his bidding for him.

"Bester?" Fran got down on his hands and knees before poking his head in through the space. He looked around as best he could, it almost being too dark to see properly but still able to hear the cat meowing back at him; it was just a matter of pinpointing the animal's exact location. "Bester, come here."

Xanxus watched with angry eyes as Fran pushed himself in further beneath the house, red orbs focusing on the younger's rear. He couldn't help but notice the way it wriggled as Fran moved, and for the first time since they had had the kid, Xanxus felt the urge to reach out and spank it. He didn't know what had come over him; he was drunk, and he was angry at the idea of Squalo cheating on him and – oh, fuck it.

"Bes – Xanxus!" Fran instinctively jumped when he felt something swat at his backside. He slammed his back into the top of the crawl space as he bucked upwards and hissed at the pain before he pulled himself out into the open to sit on his legs to face the man. He was as expressionless as ever, but for the first time since Xanxus had known him, the man could pick out a hint of emotion on the other's face – the only problem was, he couldn't pick out _what _emotion. "Don't touch me like that, you dirty old man."

Xanxus snorted. "You let that prince trash fuck you a few years back; that was just full-blown paedophilia when _you _were thirteen and _he _was twenty-two. Didn't hear you protest against _him_."

"That was _one _time and we were _experimenting_," Fran pointed out. He didn't know why this was being brought up; what did his relationship with his ex-roommate have to do with getting the man's cat out from beneath the house?

"Did you like it?" Red eyes tinted with lust; without Squalo around to take his drunken sexual urges out on, his lack of control was really slipping; something he never had much control over when he had been drinking. If he weren't careful, he might just bend the little brat over and fuck him here and now.

"I'm not answering that, horny pervert." Fran sighed before he pulled himself back into the crawl space, making sure no part of him was left in view of the other. He crawled around slowly until he had found the cat and did his best to avoid the sharp claws that scratched at him; he hated that stupid cat because if it were possible, it was more aggressive than its owner. He winced as teeth dug into his hand, but knowing this would probably be the only chance he would get, he grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and dragged it back to the crawl space.

Once Fran and Bester were back outside, Xanxus reached down and grabbed his cat. He carried it back into the house without another word, leaving Fran to sit on his haunches and watch him leave.

The teen sighed as he sat down against the wall, unsure of what had happened earlier; Xanxus had never shown sexual interest in anyone but Squalo and porn before, so why had he suddenly made a move on the boy? Was it because Squalo was going to be gone for so long? Did he just miss the long-haired man already? Or was it now that Squalo wasn't around to stop him, Xanxus felt he was entitled to the youngest?

Whatever the reason was, Fran felt… Well, he wasn't really sure of what he felt; he knew he felt a little uncomfortable, but… was that excitement, or the thrill of danger he could also feel…? He wasn't sure, and he was beginning to think that he might not want to know.

"I should text senpai and ask if I can stay with him until Xanxus sobers up, even if I'll have to listen to him and Mammon going at it constantly..." Fran sighed. He sincerely hoped the wine had just gone to the man's head, because otherwise he wasn't sure he'd be leaving Belphegor's home until Squalo came back.


	7. Chapter 7

To Fran's disappointment, it seemed that neither Belphegor nor Mammon had their phones on them as they hadn't replied back to the text he had sent two hours ago asking if he could come over. It had been an inconvenience as he really didn't feel comfortable being here while Xanxus was drunk, but he hadn't been bothered again by the man thankfully; the teen was almost sure that his guardian had disappeared somewhere in order to jack off to some porn, and it made him glad that the man still knew better than to try and rape Fran.

As he sat on his bed with his laptop open, Fran held a milkshake with one hand and typed away at the keys with the other. His attention was divided between sucking slowly at his straw and talking to Mukuro over Facebook; after telling him what Xanxus had done and that he couldn't get Bel or Mammon to answer their phones, the long-haired man had been concerned and wanted to come and get him. Finally, he could almost convince the older male that he was fine now and didn't need to be picked up; sometimes he felt that his long-haired friend worried too much about him.

'_I think he passed out again somewhere,' _Fran explained. _'He's not bothering me now. Thank you anyway, Master.'_

'_Are you sure?' _The teenager could almost _read _the concern in the other's words, and it kind of warmed his heart to know that his big brother figure cared so much for him. _'You should not be alone with him if he could harass you like that. You will be safer out of there – at least until he sobers up.'_

'_I'm fine. I still haven't heard from Mammon or Bel-senpai, but if he does anything again, I'll tell you.'_

'_Alright, Fran. Be sure to let someone know.' _

'_I will. I think Mammon and Bel-senpai might be fucking again, Master; they both usually always have their phones on, and they can fuck for _hours_.' _

'_I do not need to know this, little one; it was bad enough hanging around them with Belphegor always trying to suck Viper's face off when we were teenagers and I really do not want to know about their private lives; I am blessed enough I was always able to leave the room whenever Belphegor got into Viper's pants .' _

Fran hummed to himself at this. He knew that Mukuro was much more uncomfortable around intimacy than he was, so while the teenager had barely batted an eyelid whenever Bel got his way with Mammon and was able to mostly ignore it, Mukuro found it harder and a much more awkward situation. Fran couldn't blame him; Bel had no shame, and watching him go down on his girlfriend wherever he pleased was something the teenager could have gone without seeing. _'Sorry, Master.'_

'_It is okay.'_

Fran scrolled through his newsfeed as he waited for Mukuro to finish typing out his message. There wasn't much of interest to him, so he instead turned to look out of his window and watched the trees sway with the strong winds. He sucked again on his straw before his attention was gathered by the soft ping his phone made.

Grabbing the phone from beside him, Fran opened the new message to find it was from Mammon.

'_What's wrong?' _the woman had asked.

'_It's not important anymore. Don't worry.' _After tossing the phone back down onto the mattress, Fran turned to read the message Mukuro had sent to him. He replied back, the man having asked him how he was going in general.

'_I'm okay, Master.' _Fran wondered if there was anything on his mind he wanted to tell the man. He felt rather okay, but Mukuro knew him well enough to know that when something was bothering the teal-haired male, the younger wouldn't open up without a bit of probing. _'I had tests all day at school but I'm otherwise okay.'_

Mukuro was pleased by this response and begun telling Fran little bits of his own day. The younger was patient as he read everything that was typed and responded accordingly when he needed to. There was the occasional text from Mammon on his phone making sure that he was okay and nothing had happened; she had always seemed to have a sixth sense like that.

The sky outside became darker as the light in Fran's room faded until he eventually had to stand up to turn the light switch on. He walked over to his desk so that he could look out into the stormy weather, hearing the soft pattering of falling rain gradually getting louder until it was pouring heavily with the distant rumble of thunder.

Sliding the window closed, Fran went back to his laptop to strike up more conversation with Mukuro. He had been halfway through writing something before he looked up to find Xanxus standing in the doorway with red eyes fixed on him.

"Can I help you?" Fran blinked. He could see that Xanxus had slept away his intoxicated state as the man could actually stand without swaying and he had a more relaxed air around him. That was a good thing; the teen couldn't say he was extremely fond of drunken Xanxus.

"Light the fire and make me food," Xanxus demanded. "I want sirloin tonight."

Fran was used to being ordered around like this; he had never once heard the man say please, and sometimes he found himself wondering if the other truly did think he was above everyone and treated them like shit on purpose, or if he _did _have a bone that meant_ somewhat _well in him. He didn't know, and he wasn't sure he would ever find out.

Clicking away at the keyboard once more, Fran explained to Mukuro the situation before he pushed the laptop away and stood up to do as told.

Back in the living room, Xanxus sat in his favourite chair before kicking his feet up on the coffee table. He watched Fran throw some kindling and firelighters into the fireplace grate as he listened to the thunder rumbling softly outside. Sneering at this, he said, "I bet that prince trash pissed his pants when he realised there was a storm coming. Stupid scum pissed all through his bed in the first week we had him because he woke up and there was a storm. So the slut let him sleep with us, and a few hours late we both woke up covered in the trash's piss, too. That was the one and only time he's been in my bed; if the piece of shit was too scared to sleep by himself, I'd kick the slut out of my room for the night after I was done fucking him."

Fran didn't reply to this; he just grabbed the fire iron and lighter, starting the flames. He _did _like Xanxus, but sometimes he wished the older male was just a bit nicer to him and Bel. He had once been questioned by someone from his school how he could stand to live in this house due to everyone somehow knowing what went on – he couldn't be sure, but he believed it was because everyone knew of Xanxus and his reputation since his adoptive family had so much influence and power in their community. He had replied that he thought the environment was normal, and that he was used to it and was much happier there than he had ever been elsewhere. He didn't understand why he had been given a look of pity before the other student left him alone; after all, why would he be pitied for something that was _normal_?

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Fran tossed a log onto the fire before standing up. "Sirloin?"

"Damn straight." Xanxus watched the other leave before slumping back in his chair and closing his eyes. He remembered what he had done earlier in the day, after he had gotten drunk; he knew he shouldn't have harassed Fran like that, but damn did that kid have a nice ass; it was rather feminine, a nice change to Squalo's own. He hadn't been able to help himself, despite having never looked at Fran in that way before – then again, he had never looked at the boy's _ass _before.

It was no secret Xanxus was getting bored of Squalo. Squalo knew it, Fran knew it, and even Mammon and Belphegor knew it, and the blond hadn't been living here for two years now. None of them knew what Squalo had done for the man to change his feelings, but nothing the long-haired male had done could truly have been the cause; Squalo loved Xanxus with all his heart, put up with abuse and mistreatment, and did _everything _for the man – so why was Xanxus starting to turn on the younger?

"Fucking trash..." Xanxus kicked at the coffee table, deciding it was _Fran's _fault he was confused – well... Fran _and _Squalo's fault.

_**~~XX~~**_

Having checked into his hotel late at night, Squalo sighed as he threw his bag carelessly onto the ground. He then carried himself towards the bed and dropped onto it into exhaustion before rolling onto his side and gripping the thick blanket. He frowned as his dark eyes looking longingly at the side Xanxus always slept on; what he wouldn't give to have the man here to snuggle in against the same way he used to all those years ago – now, he would be lucky if his lover would even let him into their _bed_.

"Stupid asshole..." The long-haired man rubbed at his bruised cheek as he remembered how Xanxus had hit him earlier. He couldn't deny that it hurt greatly to have the stronger male abuse him on occasion, but he would let it slide each and every time; it was nothing he couldn't handle, and the man had yet to truly beat him – if it would ever come to such serious matters, _then _Squalo would reconsider his relationship. "I hate that I love you so much..."

It had been a while since Squalo had felt truly happy with Xanxus, but he _did_ love the man more than anything; he just knew that Xanxus didn't happen to love him back. Sometimes he considered leaving his partner, but the thought of not having the older male by his side scared him – even here in Sweden, it was killing him to be apart from his lover like this.

Rolling onto his other side, Squalo tugged the blankets out from under him, preparing himself for sleep; he was tired from the flight, and the stress that had been undulating because of his relationship was too much for him.

"He'd better at least behave for Fran..." Squalo snorted to himself, knowing the teenager would probably give Xanxus a run for his money. Closing his eyes, he fell asleep almost instantly.


	8. Chapter 8

When Fran got off the bus the next day, school having finished an hour ago, he was quick to find Xanxus in the living room with a bottle of wine next to him. He was seated in his chair, and for reasons Fran didn't know, was glaring at the TV angrily.

"Did the TV do something to you?" Fran dropped his schoolbag by the living room entrance before he stepped in further. "Or did I just walk in on your porn-viewing session?"

"Shut the fuck up," Xanxus growled. "Make me a steak."

Fran didn't reply verbally; he instead let his eyes wander down to the man's groin. He grew uncomfortable with the fact that there was a large bulge straining against the black fabric; though he had been joking about the porn, it made him wonder if he _had _walked in on such a thing.

_I hope he doesn't do anything like he did yesterday... _Fran shuddered as he left the room. He hoped Xanxus would be sober enough to keep his hands to himself today; he _really _wasn't in the mood to be molested again. _But should I tell Squalo about that? It would really upset him, but..._

Fran grabbed a steak out of the freezer. He was quick to remove it from the packaging and then throw it into a saucepan to cook; having watched Squalo make them every day for the past ten years had already taught him _exactly _how Xanxus liked his meat. He let his mind wander until he was ready to serve the food to the man waiting impatiently; he wasn't used to not having Squalo to talk to during the cooking process, and it made him feel rather lonely.

The younger moved the steak onto a plate once it was ready before allowing it to sit for a few minutes to cool. Once he was satisfied, he then picked the plate up and carried it back out into the living room. Xanxus was quick to snatch the meal away from the younger before he scrutinised it intently, as if searching for the smallest of imperfections. In an almost wary manner, he cut off a piece and raised it hesitantly to his mouth with the fork. He didn't accept it into his mouth until he sniffed it as if searching for poison, but when he did, he glared at the boy all the while.

"The shark trash makes it better," Xanxus growled after his first bite, but he still lowered his cutlery back to the meat for a second round. "It's passable, but I'm not eating your shitty fucking cooking again once the slut comes back."

"..."

"Why are you still standing here?" Xanxus had always been agitated easily, and it only seemed easier to make him explode if he were disturbed him while he ate. It had been one of the first lessons Fran had learnt in dealing with the man, but it didn't mean he obeyed; he still found himself bothering the scarred man as he ate on occasion. "Haven't you got some jerking off or something to do?"

For once, Fran didn't have a snarky comeback and instead shrugged. He knew he should have expected something lewd from the man's mouth, but for reasons he wasn't entirely sure of, it made him uncomfortable to have Xanxus making such comments about him. He wasn't a prude; he had spent copious amounts of time talking about sex with Bel, but it didn't feel the same to talk to Xanxus about it as it did Bel.

Fran didn't say anything as he left the room; he was just glad that Xanxus seemed more in control of himself than he had been yesterday. _At least it doesn't seem like he's going to molest me today... _Snatching his bag up from where he had dropped it in the corner of the living room, he carried it back upstairs in order to toss it in his own room. Once he had closed the bedroom door behind him, he pulled his books out of the bag so he could organise them neatly on his desk for when he would get to work on them later; he didn't like mess and disorganisation like Bel did and instead preferred tidiness to help keep him at optimal efficiency.

After throwing himself down on his bed, Fran looked up at the roof and folded his arms behind his head. He sighed, finding himself wishing Squalo hadn't left or had at least taken him to Sweden, too. _I don't want to be the babysitter for someone who's old enough to look after himself... This sucks... _

Fran rolled onto his side and picked at his blankets. He loved Xanxus, but it was no secret he had never been completely comfortable around the man, or able to love him as much as he did Squalo – Xanxus was just far too distant from _everyone, _and never really interacted with anyone outside of abusing Squalo and demanding steak. He couldn't say he had a close relationship with Xanxus – hell, he barely had _any _relationship with the man – and they didn't often cross each other's paths, so the boy wasn't entirely sure of how to deal with him in the first place; he could never remember Squalo offering any 'How to cope with Xanxus' classes, after all.

_Damnit, long-haired grandpa, why'd you have to leave me with him...? _Fran sighed. _I would have gone to Sweden with you if you'd offered... You took Bel-senpai to Japan heaps of times and left me with Luss. Favouritism. _

Fran pulled his phone from his pocket and logged into his Facebook to try and pass the time. He read a few statuses from some of his friends from school, but they didn't interest him – not like Belphegor's latest status did.

'_Did just get nudes from my second lover. Love you, Hayato~' _ There was someone tagged in the status, someone Fran knew as Hayato Gokudera, a man who lived in Japan who had known Belphegor since they were both teens. The teal-haired boy couldn't help but roll his eyes as he read Hayato's reply; he knew they had never gotten along in the first place – not since Hayato had never approved of Bel's excessive need for attention and could only seem to have fun by annoying everyone around him.

'_The fuck? I never gave you any nudes, and you're not my fucking lover, you creep. I wouldn't let you touch me with a ten-foot pole.' _

As expected from Belphegor, the blond had stirred the other male up further, claiming that they were really secret lovers and it was okay if Hayato didn't want anyone to know because he was still in the closet. Fran knew this wasn't true, but it was still amusing to see the blond fishing for attention even over Facebook. He apparently got it, as Lussuria was commenting with hearts, and two others – also Japanese – were commenting as well, trying to calm a now-raging Hayato down. There was a comment from Squalo telling both Bel and Lussuria to get off Facebook and get back to work as the two were apparently supposed to be working, and with one simple, 'Stop it, Bel' from Mammon, the status immediately went dead. Fran knew Mammon held a lot of authority over Belphegor, which was odd considering the older male never listened to anyone else and yet would adhere to her every wish without question.

"Stupid senpai..." Scrolling down further, the boy read a few memes, ignored those ridiculous 'one-like' photos, and commented on nothing. Facebook had never really held Fran's attention very well, but it was a way for him to keep in the loop with people he knew. "Stupid Facebook..."

After tossing his phone away, Fran got back off the bed and headed down into the living room to see what DVDs were down there; if there was anything interesting, he would take it up to his room to watch.

However, just as the boy stepped off the stairwell, he stopped as he heard a familiar grunt. He scrunched his nose up, knowing Xanxus only ever made that noise in the middle of sexual gratification; back before Fran had gotten his own room further down the hall and was still rooming with Belphegor, the two were sometimes kept up at night by the adults' sessions and had quickly learnt what noises were made when.

Going back upstairs, Fran forgot all about taking a DVD or two, deciding he'd make do with his own; he really didn't want to intrude on Xanxus, knowing nothing good would come out of it.

_Could he be more shameless if he tried...? _Fran wasn't used to Xanxus doing those kinds of things outside of his bedroom; it had been Belphegor who would pleasure himself wherever he saw fit, even if there were others home and he was at the kitchen table with them. _Now this is just uncomfortable..._

Once he had chosen a DVD from his own collection, Fran slipped it into the DVD player and then sat back on his bed with his back propped up by the headboard. He watched with vaguely interested eyes, too bored to truly be entertained.

In fact, Fran was so bored, he had been quick to doze off.

_**~~XX~~**_

When Fran's eyes opened next, it was to someone shaking him. His teal eyes blinked sleepily as he took in the familiar blond locks in front of him, wondering why Belphegor was here; the blond should still be at his home with his dick buried as deep as possible in Mammon – not in Fran's room and waking him from a good dream.

"Senpai...?" Fran pushed himself into a sitting position to look at his friend better. Even in his half-asleep state, he could see that Bel was looking as if he were distressed – but why would he be distressed? Fran couldn't seem to recall the older male ever opening up to him about anything, leaving the teen to only know little bits of what other people had told him about Bel.

"Where's Squ-Squ...?" Belphegor sounded choked, as if he was upset about something. So Fran _had _been correct...

"Sweden..." Fran rubbed at his eyes as his mind became a tad clearer. "Why?"

The older male bit his lip before he looked away. "...I really need to talk to him..."

"Well, he's gone for a few months. Can it wait?"

"No..." Belphegor sighed as he dropped his chin into his palm. He made a small noise of sadness before declaring in a confident tone, "...No, I _really _need to talk to him... It's about Mammy..."

Fran knew it was unusual for Belphegor to be distressed because of his girlfriend; sure, they had their fights, and there had been times when Bel had come back to sleep in his old room at Squalo's, but Fran had never known there to be any serious issues between them. The only logical conclusion he could come up with was that they had broken up, but even then he still didn't understand why the other would be upset; people broke up all the time so what was the point of being upset over it?

"Did you guys break up?" Fran remained as emotionless as ever, not knowing how to be sympathetic in this moment; it seemed silly to him to be needing comfort over a break up, after all.

"Of course not, you stupid frog!" Belphegor snapped. He gulped heavily before he spoke again, looking away as he did. "...We're going... to have a baby..." He blinked as the younger put his ear to his stomach before sneering down at Fran. "What are you doing?"

"I can't hear anything, senpai. Are you sure you're going to have a baby or have you just gotten fat from eating too much bad stuff?"

"Dumb frog!" The man smacked Fran's head away from him in irritation. He growled before he forced himself to calm down; the last thing he needed was to upset himself more than he already was at the moment. "_I'm _not the one who's _pregnant_, you dumb shit!"

"So you're just getting fat, then." Fran nodded to himself, as if he had made a huge discovery. "That explains everything."

"I am _not _fat, either, you overweight toad!"

Fran lifted his school shirt so that he could poke at his skinny body. "I dunno, senpai; my doctor actually said I'm _under_weight. He might say differently about _you_, though."

"You're an ass!" The taller male snapped. "I wanted to talk to _Squ-Squ! _Not _you!_"

Fran knew now probably wasn't the best time for sarcastic remarks, so putting on his best behaviour, he said, "If you didn't want a baby, you should have used protection."

"I _did_, smartass! Mammy was on birth control, too, so don't blame us!"

Tilting his head, Fran asked, "Why don't you want it?"

Belphegor looked away at this question. He was barely conscious of the frown crossing his face; all he knew was that he didn't want to think about that question, much less answer it – sure, he had grown to tolerate Fran over the years, and though they were a little close with each other, he still hadn't felt emotionally comfortable around the younger to talk to about things such as this – in fact, he felt _uncomfortable _with the idea of opening up to Fran, because he was so used to the teenager's snarky and unsympathetic attitude, he almost felt as if he would be judged if he were to try and vent to Fran. "...You wouldn't understand, Frog... Besides, I don't know if I want it or not... That's why I wanted to talk to Squ-Squ..."

"What if you guys keep it, and you still don't want it?" Fran didn't like the idea of Belphegor abandoning his own child; having been left behind by his own mother, he wanted the other male to be a responsible parent towards it. "You wouldn't leave Mammon or anything, would you?"

"I wouldn't leave her for _anything, _Frog – I just... I'm conflicted... I've never been in this situation before... I didn't think I would be..."

"Senpai should just think on it for a while. If senpai doesn't want it, you could terminate it, or put it up for adoption. I just don't want senpai to be a deadbeat dad."

Belphegor was silent, looking at his lap. It took a few minutes before he said, "Thanks, Frog..."

"While we're having a chick flick moment, can I tell you something, too, senpai?"

Belphegor shrugged. "I guess..."

"Xanxus slapped my ass yesterday."

"What? That's sexual harassment; tell Squ-Squ, Frog." For once, Belphegor seemed concerned about the younger's wellbeing.

"Sexual harassment is also claiming on a public forum that someone gave you nudes and is your secret lover when you're in fact just an attention-deprived, dirty pervert."

"Oi! I'm trying to have a serious moment here, you ungrateful little brat!"

"Do go on, senpai; I just thought you might need to know that while you're on the subject of lecturing others on their etiquette."

"Smartass... Anyway, Frog, you need to tell Squ-Squ so he can deal with it." Belphegor sat on the bed beside Fran and tucked his legs beneath him. He could almost feel at ease now that the attention was off of his own problem and instead on Fran's. "That's not like Xanxus at all."

"Well, he _was _drunk. Besides, I don't think I should tell Squalo." Fran shrugged. "It was just once, and Squalo's been really stressed lately; he doesn't need anything else on top of it."

"Frog... Don't be stupid – that's his _boyfriend_, so _of course _he'd want to know!"

"It would only hurt him, Bel-senpai. He doesn't need it right now."

Belphegor knew that was true; Squalo was a very stressed person and was trying to handle running a company while putting up with an abusive partner. While it wasn't often, sometimes it all got on top of the man to the point he'd have an emotional breakdown, and seeing Squalo cry was one of the scariest things Belphegor had ever seen; he truly loved the man, and he never wanted to see him so upset.

"...If Xanxus takes it further, you'll tell him?" Belphegor compromised. "In fact, tell _me _first so I can come and get you."

"Oh, senpai _does _care." Again with the sardonic comments. "And here I thought you'd have kicked me out on my ass."

"Oi, as long as you keep your grubby hands off _my _Mammy, we won't have a problem." There was a warning tone in the older male's voice, one that screamed _just look at Mammy and I'll kill you_. Fran knew Bel would act on his emotions if he ever felt threatened by someone else's attention on Mammon, and the teen was no exception to his ex-roommate's jealousy and possessiveness; the younger had already received several stitches to his back after Bel had stabbed him for commenting on Mammon's breast size before.

What a fun hospital trip that had been; telling the nurses his adoptive brother had stabbed him for saying said adoptive brother's girlfriend had small boobs…

"You're the one who cheated on her with me, senpai." Fran rolled his eyes at his own comment. "I'm surprised she didn't break up with you."

"She knew I wanted to have sex with a male for years now, so she said I could just once to get it out of my system. I didn't 'cheat' on her, Frog. She _gave _me permission!"

"Whatever, senpai." Fran stretched before he got off the bed and stood to look at the blond. "I'm going to go make myself dinner. Go crawl back into whatever hole you came out of – most likely Mammon's, but I think you'd have come _in _that hole."

"Shut the fuck up..." Belphegor pouted before he, too, got up from the bed. "I'm going back home to eat with Mammon. Enjoy your dinner for one."

"Don't you mean you'll be eating _her_? Horny senpai."

Belphegor just glared before he left, leaving Fran to his own devices.


	9. Chapter 9

One month had passed since Squalo left for Sweden, and Xanxus was _pissed_. Squalo hadn't been taking any of his calls, but the older man knew his lover was still in contact with _Fran_ as he often heard the teen on the phone to Squalo – why the long-haired man was ignoring him for that little smartass was beyond him.

Needless to say, Xanxus was jealous. Squalo was _his, _and yet the younger man was giving more attention to a fucking orphan rather than _him_. Xanxus _hated _it, but at the same time, he couldn't find himself blaming Fran for Squalo's actions; it was Squalo himself the man was resenting more than ever.

That was probably why Xanxus found himself standing in the doorway of Fran's bedroom, ready to interrogate the younger as to why Squalo liked the trash more than _him._

"Trash."

Fran looked up from his breakfast with his phone clutched in one hand as he texted. He cocked his head to the side, not used to his guardian approaching him out of the blue like this; was he expected to cook steak once again? "What?"

Xanxus' eyes were full of loathing like usual, but as he observed the way the younger looked innocently up at him, he couldn't help but think that the teen would probably make a good bed partner – and without Squalo here to satisfy his needs, Xanxus had been _very _frustrated lately. He didn't know where those thoughts about Fran had been coming from, but he had found them becoming more and more common as the weeks passed by.

Xanxus was blaming it on Squalo as he always did; it was that stupid slut's fault one way or another.

"Why isn't that shitty shark talking to me anymore?" There was a snarl in the man's tone, one that told Fran if he didn't answer, he was going to get hurt.

"Long-haired grandpa said he needed a rest." Fran shrugged before slipping his phone into his pocket. "He wants to have a break, he said."

"Why the fuck would he want a rest?" Xanxus growled. He found the whole idea of Squalo wanting a break to be completely pathetic; he expected for his lover to not be so fucking weak and to get the fuck over it. "Fucking pussy. It's not _my _fault he works himself too hard."

There was a lot Fran could have replied to this with, but he didn't; he instead turned his attention back to his breakfast, knowing he had to get ready for school soon – it really wouldn't be good for him if he were to point out the fact that Xanxus was rather abusive towards Squalo as of late, and that he didn't blame his guardian for wanting to get away from it for a while longer.

Red eyes observed the younger, and Xanxus couldn't help but feel his lust rise to the surface; he was used to getting sex whenever he wanted it, and never before had he been forced to take care of himself like _this_ – there was going to be some serious fucking done when Squalo came home, that was for sure.

Xanxus had never really noticed much about Fran before. Sure, he somewhat liked the kid, finding his sarcastic remarks to others to be rather amusing, but just like everything else in his life, he had never really paid Fran all that much attention.

Fran was actually attractive to Xanxus – at least, he was good looking enough for the man to consider fucking – and with his feminine appearance, it certainly turned Xanxus on enough to want to take that little shit here and now; having been with Squalo for as long as he had, he really hadn't had many chances to sleep with a female – he knew that if he snuck around behind Squalo's back too much, the younger man would eventually catch on, and that would be a migraine Xanxus just didn't want to deal with.

After stepping closer to the younger, Xanxus reached out and took a lock of teal hair between his fingers. It was soft and silky, much like Squalo's hair, and there was a scent of mint about it. The dark-haired male licked his lips as he used his other hand to take Fran's hip. He didn't squeeze it, but he liked the way it fit snugly into his palm.

Fran froze at the contact, and his eyes looked anywhere but at Xanxus. He shivered as the hand on his hip ghosted downwards and palmed his crotch through his pants. He didn't know how to react; he wanted so badly to tell the man to stop and to push the hand away himself, but he was almost too frightened to do so; memories flashed before his eyes, and he recalled the way his mother would only be hurt worse if she tried to tell her 'boyfriend' to stop – just because he viewed these sorts of situations as normal didn't mean he wanted to be _beaten_.

Fran had the audacity to stand up for himself when it came to having his ass slapped, but having the other towering over him, groping him roughly… The boy didn't know what to do; he was scared of being treated the same way his mother had been, and it wasn't until he was suddenly in the same situation as her did he realise that his wishes of finding someone to treat him like Belphegor did Mammon would probably _never _come true.

"You shouldn't be doing this..." Fran said quietly as his usually-emotionless eyes became full of fear. "You're with Squalo..."

"That slutty shark is probably out getting his ass pounded as we speak," the older man snarled. His frustration snaked its way into his grip on Fran's crotch, and the boy yelped as the other squeezed him painfully hard. Leaning closer, Xanxus whispered, "Are you trying to tell me you're _denying _me?"

Fran nodded, wary of what it would bring him; would it be just like with his mother…? "..."

"You shouldn't; I'm a _much _better fucker than that shitty prince you slept with; you're the only male – hell, the second person - he's ever been with so he probably had no idea of what he was doing. Me, on the other hand... I have _plenty _of experience."

Fran tried to push the other away, but it only resulted in a hand wrapping itself painfully around his wrists in order to hold him close. "I don't want this... You'll hurt Squalo if he finds out..."

"Who's going to tell him, scum? _You_? You wouldn't have the fucking _guts _to mention a _word _about it to him. Who gives a fuck about _him, _anyway? As I said, he's a slut who's probably been taking it rough every night since he left for Sweden."

Fran knew Squalo would _never_ do that to Xanxus - he knew just how much his guardian loved the man – but Xanxus wasn't someone who'd listen to reason; he often explode over petty things and made mountains out of molehills; it wasn't worth the ensuing violence to try and tell the other the truth.

Xanxus smirked as he brought his face closer to Fran's so he could bite the younger's earlobe hard enough to draw blood. "Think about it, trash."

Fran pulled away once he had been released and stared up at the other with an incredulous look. He trembled for a few seconds, not saying a word as he truly had no idea how he was supposed to respond; was Xanxus expecting for him to willingly help Xanxus _cheat? _

"…" The younger watched as Xanxus turned around and left the bedroom. Truthfully, he was relieved the man was leaving; he felt so shell-shocked by the situation, he'd have no idea what to do or say if Xanxus stayed any longer.

Getting off his bed so that he could lock the bedroom door, the teal-haired male replayed what had just happened through his mind. He whimpered as the ghostly echoes of his past repeated over and over again, bringing his hands up to clasp over his ears.

Fran had never considered himself weak, but that was _before _he had practically been molested by someone he was supposed to trust to look after him. He pulled his knees to his chest as he let his past play over on repeat, remembering things he wished he had never seen or heard.

It wasn't that he _wanted _to remember, because truthfully, he would much rather forget everything before he came to live with Squalo – it was that he _couldn't _stop himself from recalling things that only ever made him depressed.

Doing the only thing he could think of in this moment, the student grabbed his phone from the nightstand and sent one text to Mukuro; _'Come and get me'. _With that done, he could only curl up beneath his blankets and wait for his friend to arrive.

_**~~XX~~**_

When Fran dragged himself out of his bedroom an hour later, school all but forgotten, he found Lussuria sitting on the couch with Xanxus – as expected – in his chair. Lussuria beamed at the boy as he discarded some of the reports he had been discussing with Xanxus and patted the seat next to him.

"Hey, sweetie~" Lussuria smiled when the other sat by his side. He reached out to pat teal hair, always glad to see Fran on his visits; with Bel having moved out of home, the youngest of Squalo's charges was the only person he could dote over when he visited. "What are you up to?"

Fran shrugged. "Waiting for Master to come over and get me..."

"The fuck are you going?" Xanxus growled, similar to the way he spoke to Squalo if the younger was leaving the house without talking to him first. It was no secret the other had trust issues, but Fran couldn't understand why his guardian would be taking them out on him since Xanxus had no reason to be suspicious of him in the first place; they weren't together, after all.

"Out for lunch." Fran stared at the man emotionlessly. He was still hurting over what had happened earlier; he was just thankful the older male hadn't beaten him.

"Don't be out all fucking day; I want to eat, too, trash."

"Oh, honey, let him go out; he's a teenager." Lussuria nudged the teenager in a knowing manner and winked beneath his sunglasses; as always, the flamboyant man had nothing but sex on his mind. Sometimes Fran wondered if Bel had gotten his perverted nature from the man because the teen didn't know anyone else obsessed with sex like they were. "I bet he's got a cute guy he wants to impress~"

"He should be at fucking school – not going out flirting." Xanxus rolled his eyes. He didn't stop to wonder why he was annoyed at Fran skipping school; it was something he found he didn't want to think about.

"You were bad for truancy, dear~ All you ever did was stay in the apartment and make Squalo do all your homework for you~"

"Hn."

Fran pulled his phone from his pocket to look at the message that had just been delivered. He got off the couch, and though he was talking mostly to Lussuria, he said, "Master's out the front. I'll be back later."

Xanxus ignored the younger as Fran left. He turned his attention turning back to the documents Lussuria had brought with him, forcing himself to ignore the irritation he felt at the younger's departure; how _dare _Fran choose someone else over _him_.

After locking the front door behind him, Fran walked over to the black SUV waiting against the kerb for him. He climbed into the front seat and glanced over at the blue-haired man who was watching him with concerned eyes; Mukuro always had been rather soft towards him, considering he was quite distant from most people and liked spending time alone.

"Are you sure you are okay?" Mukuro put the car into gear and pulled away from the kerb, having been told about what had happened that morning; as soon as Fran had explained everything, he agreed to get the younger and wouldn't take no for an answer.

Fran nodded. "I am, Master... Just... a bit upset, I guess..."

"How long until Squalo comes back?"

"Not sure. Probably a while longer." Fran stared out of the passenger window and watched the houses go by. He was deep in thought, knowing he could trust Mukuro to help him whenever he wasn't feeling right. "Senpai thinks I should tell him."

"So do I. He should not be making those kinds of advances on you _at all_."

"Squalo doesn't have to know," Fran argued. It wasn't that he _wanted _to keep it a secret from his guardian because he truly wanted the long-haired man to know; it was more that he was thinking of the other's feelings, and he was worried now wouldn't be a good time to tell him that his partner was sexually harassing their charge. "He's stressed enough as it is. It'll just hurt him."

"And what if Xanxus hurts _you_?"

Shaking his head, Fran replied adamantly. "It would have happened sooner or later – whether it was him or not, it would still have happened eventually so I might as well get used to it now."

"Only if you put yourself around those kinds of people..." Mukuro sighed as he slowed the car down so he could check both directions for oncoming traffic before turning left. "You could have found someone nice and who would love you, little one – you would only have ended up in a bad relationship if you allowed yourself to be in one. Do not follow Squalo's example, and certainly not your mother's."

A longing tone crossed the smaller male's voice at this. "Bel-senpai is really lucky to have Mammon... They really love each other... That's one in a million."

Resisting the urge to palm at his face, Mukuro instead forced himself to bite his tongue, knowing it wasn't Fran's fault he didn't understand relationships properly; the only good example he had ever seen was Bel and Mammon's because wherever he went, he was surrounded by abusive relationships – Fran had never had a chance...

"...Regardless, Belphegor _is _lucky to have found someone he loves so much so soon in his life. Why don't _you _go out looking for a partner, little one?"

"I don't want a relationship. I want sex, but not a relationship."

Mukuro didn't reply to this; he knew that Fran just didn't want to be abused. Despite the boy's sharp tongue, it wasn't in his nature to harm others – if he ever _did _find himself in an abusive relationship, he would most likely be the victim.

Fran was just too gentle to _truly _hurt others.

_**~~XX~~**_

When the clock ticked over at three and Fran still hadn't come home yet, Xanxus was growing annoyed. Once Lussuria had left and the man had just his thoughts to entertain him, he had reflected on his earlier actions.

While it was in his nature to be a forceful person and not take no for an answer, he had seen how scared Fran had been, how much the younger had wanted him to go away. He didn't know why he hadn't been able to help himself, but now that he was alone, a feeling akin to what guilt must feel like washed over him.

_Was _Xanxus feeling guilty over hurting the other? But if he was, why would he feel that way? What did he have to feel guilty over? Nothing he had ever done to Squalo made him feel bad, so why was this brat different?

"Fucking _trash!_" Throwing his wineglass at the TV, Xanxus glared angrily at the offending electronic, as if everything bad in the world was its fault.

Whatever this feeling was, Xanxus _did not _like it.


	10. Chapter 10

To Fran's relief, Xanxus hadn't blatantly molested him again over the next few weeks. The man had, however, continued making verbal advances on the younger, and Fran was considering giving in to make him stop – he knew it wasn't right, bit what was the point in continuing to say no when Xanxus wasn't listening to him?

Currently, Fran was in his room, sitting at the desk as he did homework. His window was open, and he was enjoying the feel of the cool evening air blowing onto his face and ruffling his papers slightly. He could hear music from one the neighbouring houses, an annoying dose of heavy metal, but he was countering it with his own soft music; he had never been a fan of such heavy music, not like Bel who seemed to worship the very existence of it.

The house itself was quiet, Xanxus doing who-knows-what somewhere downstairs, leaving Fran to his own thoughts. Soon enough, Fran could no longer focus on his notes about the autonomic nervous system because his mind was drifting to Xanxus and his offers.

While it was true Fran had mostly declined them out of respect for Squalo, he was still a teenager who had hormones and no one to do anything with – was that any excuse for the fact that he was considering accepting Xanxus' offer and joining the older male in bed?

Fran had been thirteen when he had lost his virginity, and it had felt so good for him, it was something he continuously craved – he was sure that if it weren't for Squalo, he would long-since have let Xanxus take him; just like he had told Mukuro, he had no interest in relationships, just wanting sex.

But was sex worth hurting Squalo over? The man had taken him in when he wasn't obligated to so much as get him out of the snow. Squalo had fed him and given him a home, and treated him as his own child. Squalo loved and cared about him, and Fran could only imagine the pain the man would be put through if he realised his boyfriend and the kid he had taken in all those years ago had betrayed him in such a cruel way.

With a sigh, Fran dropped his pen to the desk as he stood up. He walked out of the room and headed downstairs, deciding he needed an afterschool snack to clear his mind; those kinds of thoughts were crossing his mind more and more often now, and no matter how hard he was trying to ignore them, he was now finding himself entertaining them.

One plate of fruit later, Fran sat down on the living room couch. He turned the TV on before lifting a slice of apple up to his mouth, and he nibbled at it slowly as he changed the channels to search for something interesting to watch. He looked down as he felt something rub against his leg, only to quickly pull them up so that he was sitting on them as he realised Bester had made his approach; the aggressive cat was most likely sizing his victim up before he dug those claws in to whatever skin he could find.

"Go away..." Fran wasn't a fan of Bester. He didn't like Belphegor's pet mink either, because both animals seemed to have a habit of attacking him for no reason. Mammon's frog was okay, but he wasn't sure it could do anything to hurt him anyway. "Go bother Xanxus or something..."

The fluffy white cat jumped up onto the couch next to Fran with flattened ears. He raised himself into an intimidating posture as he hissed, and the teen was quick to get off the couch and take his plate of food to his room instead. He could hear the creature growling after him, knowing he had narrowly avoided being scratched up; never before had he met a cat as vicious as Bester.

"Stupid cat..." Finally arriving back in his bedroom, he sighed as he sat on his bed; he wasn't sure hwo to pass the time now. Deciding he may as well look at his Facebook and see if there was anything that interested him, he grabbed his laptop from beneath his bed. "Might as well see if anyone's up for a chat..."

To the boy's displeasure, it seemed that the only person who either had the time or could be bothered to reply was Mukuro – it wasn't that he didn't want to talk to the man because he loved Mukuro, but it might be nice if people would stop clicking on the chat-box, marking it as read, and never replying back; there were few people on Fran's Facebook who seemed to want to talk to him, so sometimes it got a little lonely.

'_Hello, little one.' _ At least Fran could always count on Mukuro to reply back to him, even if he weren't in the best of moods when doing so. _'What is happening?'_

'_I'm bored, Master. I'm having trouble doing homework because I can't focus on it.' _Fran scrolled through his newsfeed as he awaited the reply.

'_Want to come over? I can help you with it.'_ Seemingly as an after-thought, Mukuro added, _'I have someone over at the moment, but they are not important.'_

'_Harsh, Master. I'd hate to be your friend. Can you pick me up?' _

'_I'll be there in fifteen.' _

Fran closed off the chat-box before he clicked on Belphegor's name, wondering what mischief the older male had gotten up to lately; it was always safe to assume he was into trouble as he could never seem to stay out of it, desperately needing attention and willing to go to any lengths to get it. Fran wasn't surprised to find his friend had made yet another bold statement regarding his Italian-Japanese friend it was almost as if Hayato was his favourite victim when it came to attention-seeking.

'_Hayato-kun promised the next time I'm in Japan, he's going to suck my dick for me. I love it when he touches me so skilfully~' _

The person in question must not have seen this yet as he hadn't commented on it, but Fran could imagine the way the other would react; Hayato had one hell of a short fuse, and Belphegor always managed to push the right buttons.

As he waited for Mukuro to arrive, Fran got off the bed and packed his school books back into his bag. He aimlessly wandered the area of his bedroom before he sat back down on his bed, having never been good with waiting; he was somewhat impatient, and he found it hard to do other things while waiting.

Hearing the soft ping of his phone, Fran read the text that flashed on his screen. _'I'm outside.'_

Fran let out a breath of relief as he grabbed his schoolbag and walked out of the room. He went back downstairs, stopping as he heard Bester snarling at him from the couch again, only to pass the living room and leave the house completely.

Mukuro hadn't been joking when he said he had company; the front passenger seat of the SUV was occupied by a white-haired male with spiky hair and a purple mark beneath their eye. Their eyes were a soft violet colour, and he wore a smile just as playful as Mukuro's, but unlike the blue-haired man, there was something about the other Fran couldn't put his finger on, almost as if his friend's guest wasn't as sincere as he looked to be.

Climbing into the backseat, Fran uttered a soft hello. He tossed his bag next to him before grabbing the seatbelt and clipping it in before Mukuro started moving the car again.

"Little one, this is Byakuran." There was a hint of boredom in Mukuro's voice as he waved a dismissive hand towards his guest, almost as if he didn't care for the fact that he was there. "Byakuran, this is Fran."

Byakuran turned his head around to smile at Fran with closed eyes that gave a rather gentle expression. His voice was soft, as gentle as he appeared, but Fran still couldn't dismiss the fact that there was something off about the other. "Hello~"

"Are you another country jumper?" Fran was well aware of the fact that Mukuro had a tendency to disappear overseas for months on end with little to no warning before coming back to Italy and acting as if he had never left; he wouldn't be surprised if the man had friends with the same habit.

"You could say that~ I simply wanted to visit Muku-chan~" Byakuran reached out and poked the blue-haired male's cheek. Fran didn't miss the way his friend's eye twitched in annoyance; it was no secret the man wasn't the fondest of touch, especially not touches that were only supposed to anger him. "Didn't I, Muku-chan~? Aren't you happy to see me~?"

"No."

Fran was under the impression these two men didn't get along very well; it wasn't like Mukuro to be so rude to someone, even if he didn't like the other.

"Aww, Muku-chan~ You wound me!"

"Good."

The boy was quiet as he listened to the two converse. He stared out of the window as they travelled, wondering where they were going to; Mukuro wasn't travelling in the direction of his home.

"Little one, does some lunch sound good to you?" Mukuro had turned his head to check on Fran, not surprised to find the younger quietly amusing himself; Fran had never been very talkative during car rides. "We can go home later."

"Sure." Fran pulled his phone from his pocket so that he could check the time. It was a bit late in the afternoon, but he _was _hungry so he didn't mind stopping for food.

"Muku-chan, will you pay my way~?"

"No. Pay for your _own _food."

"Such a cruel heart my Muku-chan has~"

"Especially towards _you_."

Fran couldn't help but be amused by their subtle taunting, wondering just how much they disliked each other and – if the white-haired male really _did _dislike Mukuro – why Byakuran was here in the first place; why would someone fly to a different country just to see someone they disliked?

Fran didn't know, and he wasn't about to ask.

_**~~XX~~**_

"Thank you, Master." Fran accepted the bag of food he was handed and followed the two adults over to a table in a corner of the restaurant. He was grateful Mukuro always paid for him because he rarely ever had money; he didn't work, and the money Squalo gave him was more often than not put away in a bank account he couldn't touch until he turned eighteen.

"You are welcome, little one." Mukuro patted teal hair as he carried his own food. Byakuran was walking behind them and humming happily; he didn't mind paying for himself, but it was always great fun riling the younger up by asking him to buy it for him.

Mukuro was the first to speak after they sat down at their table. "What is news, little one?"

"Bel-senpai is going to have a baby." Fran glanced up from the hamburger he was unwrapping and looked blankly at the two men. "He says Mammon is the one who's pregnant, but I think it's him who's carrying it – either that, or he's getting obese."

"Kufufu~" Mukuro shook his head. "Belphegor is far from fat; it does not have a chance to stay on his body as it is all that fills his head. That's why he has always been so skinny. I am sure Viper would be the one carrying it, Fran."

"Maybe." Fran took a bite out of his lunch before he spoke again. "Senpai says he doesn't know if he wants it or not."

"Understandable." The blue-haired male dipped his spoon into his chocolate sundae as he glanced over at Byakuran with a distrusting look. Fran didn't understand this; did Byakuran and Bel know each other, too?

Fran didn't know why he seemed to be the only one in the dark as to why Belphegor wouldn't want his kid, but he didn't question it; if the blond had wanted him to know, he'd have told him earlier. Instead, the youngest put his hamburger back down in its wrappings before he stood up. "I need the bathroom, Master. I'll be back."

Mukuro smiled at the boy before turning to look at Byakuran when the other laughed. His eyes narrowed in suspicion; he didn't trust many people – in fact, he trusted so few, he could count them on one hand – but Byakuran was someone he would _never _trust again, not after what had happened between them in their past.

"He's cute~" Byakuran smiled. He reached out and snatched Mukuro's sundae from the other's grasp in order to lick at it as his violet eyes just _dared _the taller male to try and take it back from him. "Is he single?"

"Stay away from him," Mukuro hissed. He completely ignored his stolen sundae; Fran was far more important than sweets. "He has been through enough without _you _getting your filthy hands on him."

"Ah, but Muku-chan, you do realise that if I so much as ask him to be mine and he accepts, there's really nothing you can do about it except sit back and watch; you have no authority over him, and you can't force him to stay away from me. You can't do anything but _hope _he's smart enough to keep away."

"You are a real nasty piece of work, aren't you?" Mukuro growled. He could feel his hatred towards the other growing by the minute; the white-haired man was just lucky he was too polite to speak what was _really _on his mind.

"Hey, you're the one who can't tell me to leave your house, no matter how much you want to." Byakuran sent a knowing look to Mukuro. "You even asked if I wanted to come for a drive."

"Like I would ever leave you in my home unattended..."

"Say what you will, Muku-chan; your kind nature will be your downfall. Remember that."

Mukuro muttered something incomprehensible before he calmed himself, seeing that Fran coming back towards them. He greeted the youngest as the boy sat back down, hoping with all his being Byakuran would leave him alone. Alas, his hopes were unfulfilled.

"Are you single, Fran?" Violet eyes observed the youngest with a curious gaze as Byakuran's playful smile widened.

Fran blinked, confused by the question. He glanced at Mukuro before he looked back to the newcomer and nodded; why would someone like Byakuran care about whether or not he was dating? "Yes."

"Oh? A cute thing like you?" There was a sugary tone in the other's voice now that Mukuro_ knew _meant Byakuran was up to no good, but there was nothing he could do without causing a scene, and he knew Byakuran was right; there really _was _nothing he could do except talk to Fran when they were alone and make him understand that the white-haired male was nothing but trouble. "Aren't you lonely?"

Fran was silent for a few seconds as he thought about the question. He soon nodded as he gave a shrug; he had never really considered it until now. "A little, I guess."

"That's no good." Byakuran reached out and ghosted his fingertips against the boy's cheek. "Why aren't you with anyone?"

Fran shrugged again. "Relationships don't mean much to me."

"Had your heart broken?"

"I've never _been _with someone before." The teal-haired male picked apart his chicken nuggets, not paying all that much attention to the other; conversations about relationships were boring to him. "I've seen what happens in relationships."

Byakuran's intelligent mind was quick to link this piece of information to Fran being an abused child, and while Mukuro stared in horror at the youngest for giving out such personal information he _knew _his enemy would use to his advantage, the white-haired man just put on his gentlest smile as he said, "Ah, but _I _wouldn't treat someone I was dating badly; I'd love them and show them care."

Fran scoffed. "No, you wouldn't."

"You don't believe me?" Mukuro could _see _the calculating look in those violet eyes, and it made him want to hit the other man. "Well, then, I guess there's just one thing I can do to prove it."

Fran watched with wary eyes as the older male came closer to him. He instinctively flinched when a warm palm pressed against his cheek, and he turned his head away as lips pressed against his; why was this happening…?

"I can show you if you just trust me." Byakuran knew the younger was considering the offer, so when he received a hesitant nod in reply, he grinned and smiled as playfully as ever; he knew nothing Mukuro could say would make the youngest change his mind; Fran was curious, probably wanting nothing more than to learn that relationships weren't all bad.

But what Fran would learn would soon be the opposite, and the teal-haired boy would only have his fears about relationships reassured. He didn't understand why Mukuro was shaking his head, but he didn't question it; he didn't think about the fact that Mukuro probably knew something he didn't.

_**~~XX~~**_

"You should not have said yes, little one." Night had fallen, and Byakuran had left Mukuro's home a short while ago. After helping Fran with his homework, the blue-haired male had started driving him home, knowing Xanxus would probably throw a fit for how long he had been gone for; without the teen there to slave after him, Xanxus probably hadn't even had dinner yet.

"Why?" Fran turned to look at the man with expressionless eyes.

"Because... you will only be a toy to him..." Mukuro's voice was soft at these words, knowing Fran probably wouldn't want to hear them. "He is not... the kind of person you really want to associate yourself with, Fran..."

"A toy? What do you mean?"

"He will play with you for a while, and then once he is bored with you, he will... It will not be pretty, Fran. Tell him you changed your mind – just _do not _go near him."

Fran sighed. "I already said yes... I can't get out of it if I said yes."

"Yes, you can. It does not matter how you do it; just make sure you are away from him."

Shaking his head, the boy replied adamantly, "I agreed, so I can't go back on it. It'll... make bad things happen..."

"Bad things will _still _happen if you do not stop it."

"...Master..." A hint of weakness crossed Fran's voice at this. "...Master, stop... You're hurting my head... I just... You're confusing me..."

Fran had a vulnerable mindset if the right subject was brought up, and this was a prime example; tears started leaking down the boy's cheeks as he raised his hands up to his ears to block out all sound. Mukuro didn't blame him; he knew Fran was trying his hardest to let someone in and give them the chance to prove him wrong about relationships – all Fran wanted was for someone to love him, after all.

Mukuro flicked the indicator on and pulled the car over against the kerb. He put it in neutral and pulled the handbrake up before he exited the car and went to Fran's side. He was tender as he opened the passenger side door, careful not to hurt the younger as he pulled Fran into his arms and rocked him side-to-side.

"It is okay, little one," Mukuro whispered as he threaded long fingers through soft locks of hair. "It is okay. It's not your fault. Shh..."

Fran gripped tightly the black coat his friend wore and buried his face in against the strong chest. He cried a bit harder, not used to letting his emotions show; he very rarely felt comfortable letting people know how he felt, so if he showed his tears around someone, it meant he loved and trusted them a great deal.

Mukuro, likewise, loved the boy, viewing him as the little brother he had to look out for and would do _anything _for the younger.

_**~~XX~~**_

"About time you came back." Xanxus glared at the teenager from his spot on the couch as Bester slept on his lap. He was pissed, having not gotten his dinner because there had been no one there to cook for him. "Where the fuck were you?"

"With Master..." Fran mumbled. He turned his head to the side so he could look anywhere but at the older male; he didn't want_ Xanxus _of all people to see that he had been crying, not knowing how the other would take it; Xanxus had never tolerated _Squalo's _breakdowns before, instead giving the long-haired male more reason to cry, so why would _Fran _be any different?

Xanxus, however, was a lot sharper than he'd let on; he'd seen the tear marks the second Fran had stepped into his view, and he couldn't help but feel angered about this; who the _fuck _had dared make _his _trash cry?

Xanxus pushed Bester to the side before he stood up and stomped to the small teenager. He reached out and gripped pale cheeks in between his fingers roughly, growling as he observed the boy. "Who the fuck made you cry?"

Fran shook his head before he dropped his gaze to the floorboards. He didn't know why, but he almost felt ashamed of telling Xanxus what had happened; why did it feel so wrong to have the man acting like this over him? "It's nothing..."

"It's _not _nothing, you piece of shit!" Xanxus' red eyes were full of hatred, and it made Fran wonder why; what was the older male _possibly _thinking in this moment when he barely even _liked _Fran? "Who the fuck did it?!"

"..." Fran shrugged. "...Master told me to end my relationship before it even started..."

"The fuck? _What _relationship? With _whom?_" Xanxus was incredulous at these words; he had never seen Fran as someone in a relationship before. He was so used to the teen staying in the house and keeping to himself, he had never considered the fact that one day, Fran might begin to date.

"...I met someone Master knows today... They asked me out, and I accepted it..." Fran spoke quietly as his voice wavered in stress.

"_Who?!_" Xanxus shouted, ready to slap it out of Fran.

"...Their name is Byakur – Xanxus!" Fran choked as he was suddenly grabbed by the shoulders and shaken violently before he had even finished speaking. "S-stop it!"

"Don't _ever_ go near that trash again!" Xanxus roared. He was unable to stop himself from backhanding the other across the face as well; he didn't know why he was so concerned about this, but knowing Fran was around someone like _Byakuran _made him sick. "_Ever!_"

Fran sobbed again as he shook his head. He couldn't understand why everyone was confusing him; this was his first relationship, and it hadn't even lasted a few hours before people started telling him to leave. It was _his _relationship, and if it was going to be a bad one, well... that was _his _problem and not _theirs_, so why were they acting like this towards him?

"Why...?" Fran whispered in a heartbroken tone.

Xanxus knew instantly he was jealous of Fran being in a relationship – the knowledge sparked the same emotions he felt whenever Squalo was with his klutz of a friend whom he was convinced would one day steal _his _trash from him – but that wasn't the issue here; the issue was that Fran was only going to get hurt if this went any further, and it would _not _end prettily.

"Ask the prince trash that shit if you want a reason," Xanxus growled before he shoved Fran away. "Don't _ever _let yourself get involved with scum like that, or I'll kill you myself."

With that said, Xanxus had stalked back to the couch and pulled Bester onto his lap. Fran hiccupped as he watched the other for a few minutes, knowing he was too exhausted to deal with this night any longer.

Dragging himself out of the living room and up the stairs, Fran lumbered into his room and tossed himself onto his bed. He didn't care to change out of his clothes; he just closed his eyes and fell asleep with the last thought on his mind being, _Why do relationships have to cause so much hurt...? _


	11. Chapter 11

"Bel, get off me, please."

"No~! The prince is comfortable here~"

"..."

Fran watched the two adults before him curiously. They were curled up on the couch together – well, Mammon had been resting peacefully by her lonesome before Belphegor started lying next to her, cuddling in so close, the woman was pushed uncomfortably against the back of the couch in an effort to keep her boyfriend from laying right on top of her.

"Bel-senpai is too fat; he'll crush Mammon and the baby." Fran himself was sitting on the chair opposite them with his phone in his hands as he texted away. He wasn't paying too much attention to the others; he was much more focused on the person on the other end of the line, and he knew both Bel and Mammon weren't oblivious to this as this was the first time he had spent more than a few minutes with his phone out.

Belphegor sent the younger a glare and opened his mouth to bite back, but he stopped as Mammon put a small hand on his shoulder. He instead stuck his tongue out in a childish manner before he turned his head back and buried his face against a head of indigo hair and sighed in contentment; no one would ever understand just how much he loved Mammon.

"Who are you texting, Fran?" The oldest adult knew the boy didn't have many friends, and the ones he did have didn't seem to want to interact with him outside of school. It was sad, really, but Belphegor and herself had been very much the same – in fact, Belphegor's only friend had been Mukuro, and still _was _Mukuro, unable to make any new friends due to his volatile and unsociable personality.

"My boyfriend." Fran glanced down as his phone vibrated with an incoming message.

Belphegor turned to look sceptically at the younger. His obscured eyes were wide, and his mouth had dropped open; was Fran actually _serious _for once? "No way! Froggy has a _boyfriend?!_"

"Yes, senpai, I do." Most of Fran's attention was fixed on his phone, so he missed the way Bel and Mammon gave each other unreadable looks; something about this was greatly concerning to them.

"Who?" Bel cocked his head to the side as he waited for an answer. He knew everyone Fran knew, and he knew there had never been romantic interest between Fran and any of those parties; had he just met someone and jumped into dating?

"I'll tell you later."

Belphegor pouted and whined. Truthfully, he was more curious than concerned; by nature, he was very much like an inquisitive child and his curiosity tended to show more than any of his other emotions. "Tell me now~"

"Bel, be quiet, please." Mammon raised a hand to rest against her forehead. She sighed softly when she felt her boyfriend's much larger hand rest ever-so-gently on top of hers in worry; he had always been so sweet-natured towards her. "I have a headache and you're being loud again."

Bel sat up as a serious look crossed his face. He lifted his hand and felt the older adult's face for a temperature. Biting his lip as he felt Mammon's skin was a tad too warm, he jumped off of the couch without hesitation. "The prince will get Mammy some painkillers~"

Fran and Mammon watched as the man rushed out of the room as if he were on a most important mission. The teen really had to give it to Belphegor; he was being so supportive of Mammon, he would do anything for her.

"Do you know what you guys are doing with the baby yet?" Fran tilted his head to the side as he waited for Mammon to reply.

The woman rubbed at her stomach to try and clear her thoughts. She was silent for a few seconds before she said, "I want to keep it. Bel is still uncertain, but we're not going to terminate it; I've already made that clear to him."

"What if Bel-senpai decides he doesn't want it, and you do?"

"We're taking it seriously, Fran. He knows no decisions will be made unless we can agree on something. I want it, but I certainly don't like the idea of it being so expensive. Apart from that, I'm willing to compromise with Bel."

"Can I touch your stomach?" Fran was curious; he had heard a lot about babies and how they could be felt kicking, and he wanted to experience it for himself; he was sure he would never get the chance to do so again.

"It's twelve weeks along, Fran; you won't feel it kick so soon." Mammon was gentle as she explained it to the teen, and she honestly felt a tad bad at the dejected look that crossed his face; she wasn't sure where he stood with pregnancy or if he had ever been around it before, and she didn't like letting him down like this. With a sigh, she added, "Once it does start kicking, you can feel it then."

Fran's face visibly lightened up as he nodded. "Okay. Is it a girl or a boy?"

"We don't know yet, Fran."

"What do you want it to be?"

Mammon fell silent at this question. A faraway look crossed her violet eyes as she thought about this; it wasn't that _she _had a specific preference on gender, but Bel… Well, Bel certainly would, and she was worried about how he would take it if he were to get a child of the gender he was against. It took a few seconds for her to reply in a soft tone as she glanced at the doorway to the kitchen, making sure Belphegor wasn't in earshot to hear what she had to say.

"I don't have a preference, but Bel... wouldn't want a boy." Mammon remembered the way her boyfriend had pleaded with her over the past few weeks, begging her to have a girl if they did go through with the pregnancy. There was fear and sadness in the man's voice she had never heard before, and though she hadn't understood at first, it soon became clear when Belphegor had started whimpering about twins, begging her not to have them. It hurt her to know that the younger was still so damaged from his past, and she wished there was something she could do to take his pain and suffering away.

"Why not?" Now that Mammon had mentioned it, Bel always had been more hostile and untrusting towards other males. While he didn't get along with most females, either, he wasn't aggressive towards them – but males only had to glance at him and he was starting fights with them.

"Because he is male himself, and he had a very unpleasant life before Squalo took him in. I'm sure he's just scared he won't be a good parent, or is worried he'll turn out like his own. He's been through a lot, and this really caught him off-guard."

Come to think of it, Fran really didn't know all that much about Belphegor's childhood; he knew the little things Squalo had told him, but the blond himself never said _anything _about it, and if it seemed to so much as come up around him, he threw tantrums. It bothered him to know that the blond didn't trust him enough to want him to know, but what could he do? He couldn't force the blond to tell him something that mustn't be easy for him to talk about in the first place.

"What happened to him?" Fran tilted his head further, wondering if the woman would tell him. To his disappointment, she just shook her head.

"Bel will tell you himself once he's ready. It plays a lot on his mind, so give him time. Once he's truly comfortable with you, he'll tell you."

Fran nodded, knowing it probably wasn't any of his business in the first place. "Do you know?"

"I was the second person he told. He was nine, and I was babysitting him for Squalo. He was having nightmares and wet the bed, so I let him sleep with me. The next morning, he told me about his nightmares and said he had them every night because of what his family had done to him."

"Senpai had nightmares a few times when we were sharing a room…"

"They're not as bad as they were when he was little, but he still has them every now and then." Mammon hated the nights Bel would wake up crying and need her comfort; it was terrible seeing someone like Bel acting like the frightened little boy he had once been.

By now, Bel was coming back into the living room, with a glass of water and box of paracetamol in his hands. His smile was as wide as ever as he put them on the floor so he could help Mammon into a sitting position. He eagerly picked the glass and tablets back up before thrusting them towards her, grinning as if he believed himself to have done a great job. "Here you go, Mammy~"

"Bel, I really don't need you to baby me like this." Mammon took the water as she spoke in a gentle tone, knowing that Belphegor only meant well. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she also wanted him to understand that he didn't need to act as if she were an invalid. "I'm capable of looking after myself."

"The prince just doesn't want his Mammy to get hurt~" Belphegor explained. His smile was faltering, and he dropped his head slightly; two of the usual signs he displayed when he felt uncomfortable and didn't understand what he had done wrong. "He's just trying to be helpful~"

"I know, Bel. Thank you. You didn't do anything wrong; you're doing the right things." Mammon reached out so that she could pat the blond's head gently. She earned a delighted grin from the younger, and soft giggles filled the air as Belphegor pressed into the hand to get more of the caress.

"Mammy should stay on the couch and rest~ The prince can handle everything here~" Leaning down, the young man kissed his lover tenderly before he pulled away. A soft red colour appeared on his cheeks that contrasted with his pale face; Bel had always loved the intimacy that he knew only _he _could share with Mammon.

"Okay, Bel."

"Froggy, come with me~" Belphegor got back off the couch and returned to the kitchen. Fran followed him, knowing the taller male was probably going to try and make him do all the chores; the older male was lazy like that, and just because he had said he would do them didn't mean he wouldn't try and sucker Fran into doing it all instead – even when they were young, the teen still somehow managed to find himself doing Bel's chores around the house while said blond lazed about in his bedroom, enjoying having his work done for him.

"Senpai..." Fran sighed as he stopped by the entrance way; he knew what the smirk on the other's face meant as Belphegor stopped by the sink full of dirty dishes. "Senpai, I'm not doing the dishes for you. You do them."

"If Froggy tells me who his boyfriend is, the prince will let Froggy do whatever he pleases~"

Fran rolled his eyes, knowing it was a fair deal – anything to get him out of doing Belphegor's work. "It's Master's friend. His name is Byakuran."

Belphegor tensed at the name before he shook his head and his soft grin disappeared. "Do _not _date him, Froggy. Get the hell out of that relationship _now_."

"Why is everyone telling me to leave?" Fran sighed, growing frustrated with this conversation already; why was everyone telling him what to do with _his _life?

"Because he's a nut job, Frog!" Belphegor stomped his foot in anger. "When Mammy and I were in Japan with the pineapple, he kept trying to flirt with Mammy and convince her to leave me for him, and attacked us both when I stepped in! And even with the pineapple! The _pineapple _dated him for a few days before he found out Byakuran was already _in _a relationship, and when he brought this up, he got the shit beaten out of him!"

Fran frowned, now understanding what everyone was talking about – but what difference would it make whether he left or not? He'd only wind up in the same situation with someone _else, _so... was there any point in leaving when it would just happen again at a later date?

Shrugging, the boy replied with, "I'll probably get used to it; Squalo and my mother got used to it."

"Goddamnit, frog!" Belphegor shouted. "What part of _leave him _don't you understand?!"

Fran opened his mouth to reply, only to shut it as his phone went off with another message. He read it, finding that Byakuran had invited him over for the day. His nimble fingers quickly replied with a yes, desperate to see if Byakuran was different than what everyone said about him – more than anything, he just wanted his views on relationships proved wrong, and to know that someone loved him.

"This conversation is done, senpai." Fran slipped his phone back into his pocket, intending on walking to the address that had just been sent to him. "Whatever happens to me doesn't concern you. It's not your problem, so leave me alone. Focus on the baby you probably will never want."

Belphegor's mouth dropped open at these words as a look of hurt quickly developed on his face. He opened and closed his mouth for a few seconds before he made an agitated noise and stepped forward so that he could shove Fran to the ground.

"Don't act like you know _anything_, you dumb frog..." the blond hissed. "It's not like we were _trying _to have one, or we were being careless... At least we're trying to do the responsible thing _now _and work out what to do next..."

Fran stared at the man's face. He didn't say anything; he knew better to, because Bel was very greatly agitated and if Fran wasn't careful, Bel _would _hurt him – behind that playful smile and cheeky attitude, the young man was very unstable, and he was no stranger to instigating violence when it came to other males.

Bel was quick to the leave the room without another word. He didn't go back to Mammon's side; he instead disappeared somewhere down the hallway towards the back of the house. Wherever he went, it gave Fran time to get back to his feet and say goodbye to Mammon. The woman must have heard their fight as she was quieter than usual when farewelling the younger and then got off the couch to check on her boyfriend.

Outside, Fran tried to shrug off the rain that was pummelling him as he made his way through the wet weather. He wanted to go see Byakuran and find out for himself if what everyone was saying was true or not – but what if they were right? How would he ever face them again after acting the way he had towards them? Especially with what he said to Bel...

It was rare for Fran to feel bad over the things he said, but he was starting to find himself wishing he could go back and apologise to Bel. He couldn't do it today, though; Bel would beat him to a bloody pulp if he went anywhere near the blond in the next few days.

_**~~XX~~**_

"You got here rather quickly, considering you walked." Byakuran was sitting on the couch of the hotel room, and he observed the younger with a hungry look; how appetising Fran was...

Fran closed the door behind him before he shrugged. "It wasn't that far."

"As long as you made it here safely if the important thing." The older male smiled playfully as he patted the seat next to him. He reached out to the coffee table and grabbed a marshmallow from the bag resting before him as he continued to stare at Fran.

Fran sat somewhat close to him, but it was clear he was still hesitant about allowing himself to get _too _close to the man, probably not sure if he could trust the other just yet or not; sitting closer to the arm rest than to Byakuran, the teal-haired male looked at his lap as he gathered his thoughts.

"Everyone says bad things about you." Emerald eyes blinked emotionlessly at the white-haired male, and Fran missed the dark look that crossed violet orbs.

"Oh? Like what?" Byakuran was forcing himself to remain calm, knowing if he could catch Fran off-guard, it would make the game so much more interesting; he would have to put up with this – for now.

"That you're abusive, and you cheated on someone else with Master. You hurt him, and tried to take Mammon from Bel-senpai."

Byakuran gave his gentlest smile as he tilted his head to the side in mock confusion. "Do I look like I'm capable of that kind of thing, Fran?"

Fran was still for a few seconds before he shook his head. He didn't want to believe he could be with someone capable of treating him worse than Xanxus did Squalo – not hen Byakuran looked so kind and gentle in this moment. "No."

Byakuran cupped the younger's cheek as he moved his face closer to Fran's. He could see the trust in the emerald orbs, and he couldn't help but smirk as the other got ready to kiss him. He waited until their lips were just about to touch before he slapped Fran as hard as he could. He laughed as Fran's closed eyes opened again in fright; it had been a while since he had gotten this kind of satisfaction.

Fran gasped as he pulled away quickly. The sound had scared him more than the actual hit because it brought back memories he hadn't actually thought about for a while now. He whimpered as he looked at Byakuran, and he was not prepared for the second slap that sent his head to the side. He cried out as he was thrown from the couch and into the coffee table on his way down; his head was spinning in emotions he couldn't recall ever feeling before. He didn't understand what he had done wrong in order to be shoved down on the ground and have his pants pulled from his hips, nor did he know what had provoked the other into repeatedly punching him in the face as he aligned his hips with the younger's.

It had been a long time since Fran had been this scared, and when harsh pain overwhelmed him, worse than when he had had his first time with Belphegor, he could only imagine that this was what happened when others were trusted; they would only hurt him in the end anyway.

_**~~XX~~**_

When Xanxus heard the front door opening at an ungodly hour of the morning, he threw his wineglass at the wall in anger. He stood up from his chair as his body shook with unbridled rage; what the fuck did that little brat think he was doing staying out so late without a word as to where he was?

"Where the fuck were you, trash?!" Xanxus roared. "What the fuck did you think you were doing?! Walking out of the prince trash's house without telling either of them where you were going! Mammon rings me saying something had happened, and you can't even answer your fucking phone when I tried to ring you and see where you were!"

Fran stared down at the ground; the last thing he wanted was for Xanxus to see the result of his stupidity. He flinched when the stronger male raised his hand to him, but even though it was nothing new, never before had he whimpered and thrown himself backwards.

This was what told Xanxus that something had gone _very _wrong.

Xanxus grabbed a handful of teal locks in order to force the other's head up to face him. His eyes widened at the blood and bruising that covered the younger's face, and it was then he put together the puzzle; Fran must not have listened at all and gone back to Byakuran.

"Is this Byakuran's doing?" Xanxus snarled. He tightened his grip on Fran's hair and shouted when the boy nodded; he couldn't remember being so angry in a long time. He begun tugging Fran out of the living room and into the hallway, but he stopped when the other cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground once Xanxus let go of him. The man stared with cold eyes, and he could feel a foreign emotion bubbling up inside of him – was this… what _concern_ felt like…? "The fuck did he do, scum...?"

Fran shook his head and curled up into a ball. He whimpered, but he didn't fight Xanxus off when the man leant down and pulled his shirt up to find the bruises and marks from the previous beatings covering the skinny body. He hated knowing that Xanxus could see them; anyone but Xanxus…

Xanxus didn't say a woe as he pulled Fran into his arms and carried him over to the door that led into the garage. He grabbed his keys from the hook beside the door before he stepped in and walked towards the sleek black Mercedes parked neatly on the far side of the garage; someone was going to pay dearly tonight, and it wouldn't be Fran.

Fran choked on his sobs as Xanxus unlocked the car and put him in the front passenger's seat. He wondered what was going on; it was very rare for Xanxus to drive himself somewhere, much less take _Fran _with him – was Xanxus mad enough about _something_ to be acting like this?

"Where is that piece of shit?" Xanxus growled after seating himself in the driver's seat. He started the car as he pressed the button for the garage door and waited for it to open before he reversed the car out.

"H-hotel..." Fran whispered. He ducked his head; it was bad enough letting Xanxus see what had been done to him – no one else had to see how weak he was, either.

"I'm going to tear his fucking balls off," Xanxus snarled as he put the car into first gear. He floored it as far as he could down the road before he lifted his foot off the clutch to slam it aggressively into second. The vehicle revved loudly as it was pushed to the extreme, but Xanxus didn't care; all that mattered was getting Byakuran and snapping the man's neck.

_**~~XX~~**_

After giving Xanxus the room number Byakuran was staying in, Fran waited in the car as the scarred man stormed out of the vehicle and into the building. The car park was dark as the only source of light came from the street lamps, and though it made Fran nervous, he most certainly didn't want to go back to that room where he had been put through hell; he would much rather stay here and wait for his guardian to come back.

When Xanxus returned, it was silent between them for a few minutes as the man sat in the driver's seat and didn't bother to put the keys into the ignition. Fran stared out of the passenger window as the man glared straight ahead, seemingly deep in thought.

"He wasn't there..." Xanxus muttered. His fingers curled around the steering wheel tightly at his own words. "Stupid trash had checked out an hour ago for a flight..."

Fran closed his eyes in despair. Tears rolled down his cheeks; he knew that without Xanxus able to deal with this, there would be no closure for him now – maybe not ever. It wasn't fair his trust had been abused like that when all he wanted was to be reassured that it was okay, and now...

Now he was left with scars deeper than he had started out with.

Xanxus turned to look at the younger, hating to see Fran crying. Tears weren't something he normally tolerated – hell, if he caught Squalo crying, he'd slap the shit out of the man until he came back to his senses – but when it was _Fran_, it seemed so different, so... _innocent_.

Unable to help himself, Xanxus leant across the car and wrapped an arm around shaking shoulders. He winced as the other pulled himself onto his lap, not used to such contact but not wanting to push the distressed teenager away; for some reason, he wanted to be the one to comfort Fran and keep him safe.

"X-xanxus..." Fran sobbed as he buried his face in against the older male's chest and curled his fingers in to the black jacket Xanxus wore. He pressed into the ghostly touch he felt on his arm, just wanting what he could get in this moment. "X-xanxus, I... I love you..."

Xanxus blinked at those words, having rarely been told them before. He had heard them from his foster father when he was younger, the man having treated him as his own child, and as a teenager Squalo had said it to him all the time, but now...

His foster father had long-since passed, and Squalo rarely ever showed his affections anymore; there was no cuddling between them, or gentle touches here and there – it was all just fighting and abuse, and Xanxus hadn't realised how bad it was until he reflected on their childhood when Squalo was always in his arms for one reason or another.

Sighing, Xanxus threaded his fingers through teal locks as he let Fran cry; he had never considered the fact that he may be hurting his family more than he had realised until now.

Waiting until Fran had cried himself to sleep, Xanxus then put him back in the passenger seat and strapped him in before he started the car and made his way home.


	12. Chapter 12

When Xanxus' eyes opened the next morning, the first thing he took notice of was the tiny body curled in against him. It had been a long time since he had woken up with someone by his side; all these years of his failing relationship with Squalo, the silver-haired male had long-since stopped sleeping against him and instead put as much distance between them as he could while he slept on his side with his back to the older man.

Having Fran bring back feelings he had all but forgotten about... Reaching out, Xanxus pulled the boy closer to him as he watched Fran's eyes open slowly.

It was silent between the two as they just lay there and watched each other. Fran eventually moved himself closer and grabbed the white nightshirt the man was wearing. He let his head fall onto the pillow as a frown crossed his face; the memories of last night's events were flooding his mind again.

Xanxus reached out and ghosted his fingertips against a bruised cheek. Fran flinched before he stayed still as he tried to see past eyelids almost forced closed by swelling. The dark-haired male could see the way the younger's lips had been split and blood had poured unrelentingly from his nose hours previous, and the bruises that covered the soft skin topped everything off; Fran was in bad shape, and it infuriated Xanxus to see the evidence clear as day.

Xanxus let his hand wander down Fran's side as he thought about what other injuries were hidden behind the boy's clothing. He slowly lifted the hem of Fran's shirt so that he could see; he had to make sure that bastard hadn't done anything more. His eyes darkened as he noticed all the bruising and cuts that covered the frail torso; why had he left this happen…? Why hadn't… he tried _harder_ to keep Fran away…?

Xanxus slipped his fingers past the hem of Fran's pants. He didn't miss the way the younger flinched at the action, and he had to ask – he _had _to. "Anything down here?"

Fran looked away as he bit his lip. Tears welled up in his eyes before he whispered, "He... raped me..."

Xanxus let his eyes close as he struggled to contain his anger; no matter the way he had treated his own boyfriend, he would have _never _raped Squalo or even _tried _to force him into sex. He knew very well the meaning of no, but he was stubborn, and he wouldn't take no for an answer if he were hungry or wanted something else that wouldn't hurt anyone – rape was something even _he _hated, and he'd be _damned _if he ever did that to someone.

Xanxus pressed his face forward and captured small lips with his own. He felt the other hesitate for a few seconds before kissing back, Fran only just now feeling the comfort and safety he had been searching for all this time – how fucking ironic he was finding it in _Xanxus _of all people. A few tears slid down his cheeks as he reached up and wrapped his arms around the man's neck before tilting his head back as they broke apart for air.

"Xanxus..." Fran moaned softly as he felt hot lips kiss the side of his mouth and cheek before trailing down his neck and eventually to his throat. He stared up at the roof with blank, yet tear-filled eyes, not knowing what was going to happen, but knowing he didn't mind this tender form of affection. He might not want to have sex just yet, but he would see where this led; he had never before known Xanxus to be so gentle, and it truly surprised him to be on the receiving end of this. "Xanxus..."

Fran moaned again as he felt a wet tongue slide down his chest. His eyes slipped closed as a large mouth closed around one of his nipples and sucked. He arched his chest into the touch as soft pants escaped his lips, having never felt this before, not even when he had slept with Bel. He whimpered when he felt a hand slip in beneath his pants and grasp his arousal, but it wasn't quite from fear or pleasure; instead, he was almost… _content _with the fact that it was Xanxus doing this to him. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as he groaned and instinctively bucked his hips up slightly.

"Xanxus..."

The man moved his face back up to Fran's and took injured lips on his own once more. Their mouths parted so that their tongues could dance together as the older male pleasured the boy; somehow, the man found himself wanting to replace Byakuran's touch with his own. Xanxus rubbed his clothed hips against Fran's thigh slowly, for once not too bothered by getting his own climax; it had been far too long since he had had this kind of intimacy with his own boyfriend, and he hadn't realised he had missed it until now.

Fran let a soft cry escape his lips as he felt himself hitting his orgasm and spilling over Xanxus' hand. He opened his eyes once more before he looked into red orbs as a silent thanks was shared between them; it was no secret that the man's touch had washed away a lot of the emotional pain the teenager was feeling.

Fran curled in to the man's chest and sighed in contentment. He felt a strong arm wrap around him to hold him close, and never before had he felt as loved as he did right now; back when he had had his first time with Belphegor, the blond had been gentle with him and tried his hardest to give him pleasure, too, but there had been no cuddling or anything like this after they had finished; Belphegor had just patted him on the head and then left. It was a shame he had missed out on this kind of intimacy with Bel because he was honestly enjoying it, but he could understand; the blond had already been with someone he loved dearly and would have been saving his intimate desires for his own girlfriend.

But then again, Fran remembered, Xanxus was also with someone, and yet… Oh, well; he would think about this later; for now, he was going to sleep.

Xanxus himself had his eyes closed as he also prepared himself for more sleep. He was content with what had happened between them, and he felt as if his stress levels had just decreased by a great deal. Now all that was left was to –

"_Xanxus!" _

Both Fran and Xanxus sat up as they heard Squalo's shout, neither of them having expected for the long-haired man to have returned; now this was just horrible timing... They looked at the doorway and found Squalo standing there with a face red from anger as tears slipped down his cheeks. Fran had never seen him so angry before, but he could understand; Squalo must have just had his heart broken.

Xanxus sneered as he got out of the bed to approach the smaller man. He reached out and grabbed a lock of silver hair before he tugged on it violently; he had been feeling so serene, but now that Squalo was back, he felt as angry as ever. "How long were you standing there, trash?"

"Long enough to have seen you put your grubby fucking hands all over him..." Squalo snarled back. "Why the fuck would you do that shit to him, Xanxus...? Why... would you fucking _beat _him?"

"I didn't do that, you dumb fuck."

Squalo slapped his lover. Tears fell harder down his cheeks at these words; he wanted so badly to believe Xanxus, but how could he? He knew firsthand how abusive the scarred male could be. "I _know _you fucking did, because you do it to _me_, you asshole!"

Xanxus grabbed Squalo's thin wrists and leant in close. His hot breath billowed against Squalo's face as he used his heavy body to pin Squalo to the wall so that he was towering over the younger. He snarled dangerously. "Don't accuse me of shit I didn't do, you shitty shark."

"Get off me, Xanxus... Get the fuck off me!"

Fran's eyes widened as he watched Xanxus punch his lover in the face. He whimpered and couldn't stop himself from tearing up as he heard Squalo whimper before he was thrown from the room and left a loud thump in his wake as he hit the ground in the hallway; it was just like watching his mother all over again, and Fran couldn't bear it.

"Stop kicking me, Xanxus!" Squalo shouted; his tone was a mixture of anger and fright, and it terrified his charge, leading the teen to cover his ears with his hands. "You fucking asshole!"

Fran choked on his sobs as he heard Xanxus shout back. He knew that while the two had been violent towards each other before, it had never been like this; for the first time since he was little, Fran was scared one of them was going to be killed.

The sounds emitted by their fight filled the air for what felt like an eternity before Xanxus shouted something incomprehensible and his footsteps stomped away. Fran sobbed to himself as he curled up in a ball, too afraid to leave in fear of what he would find; images of his mother's bloodied and bruised face crossed his mind, and he couldn't bear even the thought of Squalo being in the same condition he had seen his mother in all too often.

The younger didn't know how long it had taken, but Squalo eventually limped back into the room after an uncertain amount of time. He held one hand over his battered face as he approached the bed with an expression the teen had never seen him don before. He glared down at Fran with one eye as the other was bruised and swelling rapidly. In an aggressive tone he had never before directed to either of his kids, he snarled, "Get fucking dressed; we're leaving."

Fran nodded as he wiped at his tears. He didn't hesitate to leave the room and instead go to his own. He moved to his wardrobe where he changed into a simple t-shirt, baggy black hoody, and loose jeans before he grabbed his phone and wallet from the desk and returned to Squalo's side.

Squalo limped slowly through the house. He didn't know what Xanxus had done to it, but he was sure it had been broken – it would be likely, considering his boyfriend had stomped relentlessly on it too many times for the long-haired man to count. It took Fran's help to get him downstairs and into the garage, and though he had every intention of getting into the driver's seat of his car, he was stopped by Fran.

"Do you want me to drive, Squalo...?" Fran whispered. He didn't want to drive as he had never actually found much interest in learning, but he was afraid of what could happen if Squalo drove them; the man was in no condition to be driving, and it would be safer for Fran to take the wheel. Fran wasn't surprised when the other nodded, so while Squalo dragged himself into the passenger's seat, he put his learner plates on the car before he got in it and adjusted his seat and the steering wheel to better suit his stature. "Where are we going?"

"Lussuria's..." Squalo sighed. He reached out and rested his head against the window before he pressed the button on the dashboard for the garage door. Once his charge had started the car, he muttered, "Clutch and roll, Fran..."

Fran nodded. He depressed the clutch before he released the handbrake and put the car into reverse. He hadn't been able to master reversing just yet, and he knew Squalo wasn't in the mood to deal with any damage that may arise by the boy accidentally shooting the car out of the garage due to his lack of driving skill; it would be better for him to take advantage of the car naturally rolling back on the slight slant the driveway was built on.

Once Fran had gotten the car onto the road, he put it into first gear before working the clutch. He sighed as he almost stalled the car by bringing his foot up too quick; he wasn't in the mood for his lack of experience, and he knew Squalo wasn't, either.

"Get your revs up, hold the clutch when the car starts to move, and then put your foot down more on the accelerator, Fran... Bring the clutch up slowly." Squalo knew now wasn't the time to snap at Fran, no matter _how _angry he was with the younger; he had no idea what had happened while he had been gone, but to find them in bed together...

Squalo tried to banish the idea that he had been betrayed by _both _males; he had suspected Xanxus would eventually cheat on him, but Fran...? He would never have believed _Fran _would hurt him in such a way...

Squalo bit down on his split lip and drew more even more blood as he tried his hardest to fight back tears; he had never thought it would hurt so much to know that no matter what he had done, Xanxus had never been able to love him back.

Fran glanced at his guardian as he moved into third gear. He wasn't sure what to think; he knew he had hurt Squalo more than anything, but he also knew the man didn't understand the situation – he had made the wrong assumptions and blown things out of proportion, accusing Xanxus of having been the one to beat Fran...

Squalo had no idea of the truth, and Fran just didn't know how to tell him – not when they were both in so much pain as it was.

_**~~XX~~**_

"Dears! What happened?!" Lussuria hadn't expected to find two beaten-up males on his doorstep when he had answered the door, and he instinctively ushered Squalo and Fran into his home, taking them to the living room to make them comfortable; there was no way he could turn them away and would instead do whatever he could to help.

"Not important..." Squalo turned his head away from long fingers that tried to touch his face, uncomfortable with the older male's actions. "Can we stay here for a while? I'm done with Xanxus."

Fran's eyes widened at these words, having expected a lot but not to hear that Squalo was breaking up with his lover; the man had endured so much, and to think that he was finally giving up… "Squalo... Please, no..."

A single dark orb fixed on Fran. A snarl escaped the man's lips. "You, _shut the fuck up. _This is partly _your _fault, so don't fucking _dare _tell me what to do. You're fucking lucky I even _brought _you with me! I was tempted to fucking leave you there with him, but I'm not that fucking cruel, you little shit. Keep your fucking mouth _shut_."

Fran's eyes widened in surprise, having never been spoken to in such a manner by Squalo before. He bit his lip as he ducked his head and tensed his body as he submitted. He didn't understand how so much had happened in just a few days, or _why _it had happened, but he would give _anything _to do this over and have it turn out differently.

Lussuria frowned. He had no idea what could have happened, and he didn't know what to do; Squalo was _really _worked up, and this wasn't good at all. Trying to help in the only manner he was certain of, he gathered their attention before he said, "Stay here while I go get my first aid kit."

Squalo waited for the older male to leave before he turned back to Fran with anger prominent in his voice. "Why the _fuck _would you do that to me, you bastard? I took you in, gave you a bed, food, and anything else you could have possibly wanted. I showed you more love than your own _mother _gave you, and instead you fucked me over and slept with my fucking _boyfriend_ while I was gone. You fucking little... I hate you so fucking much, Fran; Xanxus and I could have worked it out had he slept with anyone else, but how the _fuck _was I meant to go back there and deal with you _both _knowing that _both_ of you stabbed me in the fucking back?"

"Squalo..." Fran closed his eyes. He was hurt greatly by these words; he knew he had messed up, but... "Squalo, I'm... I'm sorry..."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, you tramp!" Squalo roared before slapping Fran across the face. He sniffed as tears rolled down his cheeks again, and he hastily raised a hand to wipe at them. "...I... fucking_ loved _him, Fran... I _loved him_! And you... He gave _you _more tenderness than he's given me in over _ten fucking years_! Just... Just go, Fran... Once Luss fixes you up, just fucking leave. I don't care where you go – hell, go back to _him_ if you want; I don't fucking care anymore! Just... leave me alone..."

Fran looked to the ground. He had no idea how to reply; what was he supposed to say in this situation? Tell Squalo he was wrong about everything and it hadn't happened the way he had perceived it to have? That would only make matters worse, and clearly Squalo was too heartbroken and betrayed to _want _to listen.

As much as Fran didn't want to leave the man, he knew he had no choice; his presence would only hurt Squalo further. He hoped that maybe once the other had had a few weeks to calm down, he might listen to reason, but now... Now was _not _a good time to try and explain himself – Squalo wouldn't want to hear how Xanxus treated_ Fran _better than he did Squalo, after all.

Standing up, not even bothering to wait for Lussuria to come back, Fran left the house. He let his own tears fall now that he was away from Squalo, having no idea where he was supposed to go now. Should he go back to Xanxus? The man was probably in a foul mood; that would be suicide. Belphegor and Mammon's? No; they were dealing with a pregnancy, and Fran had already left them on a bad note. Mukuro's? Well... They _were _very close, but... Fran didn't want him to know he had completely disregarded the man's concern and gotten himself into a very bad situation.

_At least wait for Xanxus to calm down..._ Fran thought to himself as he walked with no idea where he was going. _Or, if that takes too long, for my bruises to fade, and then got to Master's... For now, I'll find somewhere to stay..._


	13. Chapter 13

It had been a long time since Xanxus had been alone. As a child, he had lived on the streets with his mentally ill mother until she had passed away and he had eventually found himself being fostered by a man named Timoteo. He had been spoiled, given anything he wanted, and he was so pampered, he could even constantly skip school without repercussion. There had been maids, and various other servants to do whatever Xanxus asked of them, and the man had never known what it was like to have to do things for himself.

Squalo had come from a rich family as well, and though he had been somewhat of a stuck-up brat, he had quickly drawn Xanxus' attention when the older male was asked by teachers to tutor him in his classes. They hadn't gotten along at first, but Squalo had quickly become the only person Xanxus had let into his cold heart.

Timoteo, when told that the two had gotten together, had bought them an apartment so that they could have time together without worrying about anyone bothering them. After a few months of living together, that annoying blond Xanxus resented so much had become part of the family, and the kid had just been too easy to talk into doing Xanxus' chores that Squalo had always ended up doing anyway.

Throughout the years, nothing had changed; Xanxus was still pampered and knew nothing but having others there to do everything for him. Now, everyone was gone and Xanxus had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to do. He could admit he missed Squalo, and he was sorry he hadn't realised sooner what he was putting the younger through; not until he had seen what _Fran _had gone through by someone _else's _hands did he realise he was no better than Byakuran; he had beaten Squalo, put him down on a daily basis, and made the long-haired male feel so shit, Squalo refused to even answer his calls the second he was out of the country.

Sure, Xanxus hated having to do things for himself, and he would have loved for someone to come back at least once a day to cook his steaks, but... he knew his loneliness ran deeper than not having a slave running after him; he missed having someone to talk to, and... just having someone in his _house_. His home was too quiet now, too _empty, _and it didn't feel right not having Squalo's loud voice shouting from somewhere in the house, or Fran's TV echoing through the top floor, or even the unmistakable sounds of pleasure as Belphegor either jerked himself off or had Mammon over for the day.

With only Bester for company, Xanxus had had plenty of time to think about the things he had done to his family, to acknowledge the fact that he _hadn't _been a good partner _at all _and he _deserved _this horrid loneliness; he had been so lucky to have someone like Squalo and had taken the younger for granted – now that he was gone, Xanxus could see that Squalo had been one in a million; there weren't many people who would stay for almost nineteen years throughout the abuse and _still _love their partner.

Xanxus should have taken better care of his family, seen that he was _so fucking lucky _to have who he did, and _show_ that he cared about them. Instead, all he had done was treat them as replaceable slaves, and now... he was paying the price.

With a sigh, Xanxus swirled his wineglass in the air as he glared at the fireplace, as if the object in question was the cause of his misery. Bester was curled up on his lap and purred away as he slept.

"Fucking trash...!" Xanxus snarled as he threw the glass at the wall. He didn't care as it shattered and spilt all over the hardwood floor; he just grit his teeth together, hating the way he was feeling.

_I swear to – who the fuck's at the door? _

After hearing someone ring the doorbell, Xanxus pushed Bester from his lap and stood up. He staggered drunkenly to the front door before he ripped it open, ready to give a mouthful to whoever had disturbed his brooding. However, he stopped and stared as he found Fran standing on the doorstep. The younger was soaked completely from the heavy rain, and he was still bruised from Byakuran's assault on him. With the time that had passed since, the marring wasn't as bad; it looked as if it were almost ready to fade for good in the coming days.

Fran stared up at the man, expressionless, before asking in a quiet voice, "Can I come in...?"

Xanxus stepped away from the door as he gave the younger room to enter. He looked around outside, almost expecting to find Squalo with the other, and yet he was confused when he realised Fran was here by himself.

"Where's Squalo?"

Fran was greatly surprised to hear the older male refer to Squalo by his name – he didn't think Xanxus had ever done it before. In reply, he shrugged before peeling his saturated hoody from his body and dropping it carelessly by the front door.

"Squalo kicked me out the day he came back..." Fran sighed before he moved into the living room to stand before the fire in an attempt to get some warmth back into his body. "I haven't... I've been staying with Master..."

Xanxus followed the boy back into the living room and sat in his chair. He regarded the younger, feeling a tad calmer now that he had someone here with him again; was it only because it was _Fran _that was here? Or would he finally himself relaxed by someone else's presence, too? "I take it Squalo's gone for good."

Fran shrugged again. "I guess so. He's changed his phone number and everything. ...Can I stay here...? Master's going back to Japan again..."

"Why didn't you go with him?"

Fran looked away before he muttered, "Master has good friends over there, and... I'd probably only get in the way... He should be able to enjoy his holiday without me following him..."

"Fair enough." Xanxus glanced down as he felt Bester jump back onto his lap. "Stay if you want; I don't give a shit..."

Fran nodded. He wrapped his arms around him before he looked at the ground and chewed on his lip. This new change in his life was as hard for him as it was for Squalo and Xanxus; he missed his home and his family, the safety and comfort he felt from knowing they were there for him.

Now... Everyone seemed to be gone. Squalo was gone, Belphegor probably wouldn't want to talk to him again and Xanxus seemed as distant as ever. Fran allowed a lone tear to roll down his cheek before he closed his eyes. He was hurting greatly over everything that had happened, and he regretted every single thing that had to do with Byakuran.

Why couldn't he just have _listened_…?

Xanxus gestured for the younger to approach him. He waited until Fran was within grabbing distance before he took the boy's wrist in his hand and tugged the small body onto his lap. Bester hissed and jumped off, leaving Fran to cuddle in against the strong chest as strong arms wrapped around him.

"Stay," Xanxus demanded before lowering his face and pressing his lips against Fran's. The younger kissed back almost immediately as wet tears slipped from emerald orbs and splashed against Xanxus' face.

Fran wrapped his arms around the older male's neck and pressed in tight against the other. He pulled his face from Xanxus' so he could bury it instead in the man's chest and let out his distress in the form of tears. He felt himself being pulled closer so a chin could on top of his head, and for the first time in his life, he found himself wondering if this was how it felt to love someone so dearly.

Xanxus, likewise, didn't want to let the younger go; it had been so long since he had been with someone like this, and he couldn't believe he had let his bad-tempered personality get in between his and Squalo's relationship. Whatever had gone wrong between them may never be fixed, but from the looks of things, he had Fran now. He would probably never see Squalo again, but with the way Fran soon curled up on his lap and went to sleep, he knew he had the younger's love, and he could live with that.

_**~~Several weeks later~~**_

"Can't you make your mind up already?" Squalo sighed as he regarded the blond in front of him. Bel was wearing a lopsided grin on his face as he flipped lazily through a porn magazine; he loved having Squalo visit him, but the man knew better than to tell him to put his porn away; it would only lead into the blond doing more than just looking at it. "Jesus, it's _your _fucking kid. You need to be more responsible for it."

Belphegor's grin vanished before he opened his mouth. He was silent for a few seconds before he said in a choked voice, "I'm trying, Squ-Squ... I really am..."

The second blond seated on the couch next to Squalo gathered the long-haired male's attention before saying quietly, "I'm sure he's stressed enough as it is without being berated, Squalo."

"Shut up, Bucking Horse; he's _my _kid." Squalo regarded the other with dark eyes before he flinched and pulled away when a hand approached his face; he couldn't help but remember how often Xanxus had taken to hitting him, and he wasn't sure if he would ever get over his habit of flinching. He swallowed heavily and avoided all eye contact as fingers gently caressed his cheek, and when soft lips came closer to his own, he squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

Belphegor looked away at this one-sided display of love. He felt sick as he witnessed the way Squalo showed anxiety around his new lover; while he knew the silver-haired male had also shown it around Xanxus at times, it hadn't been that apparent until Squalo was faced with the love and tenderness he hadn't gotten in so many years; it was almost as if the man had been so used to aggression, that even the smallest display of kindness in his relationship frightened him. The blond wasn't sure how deep the issues ran, but he _did _know that the older man often struggled to let himself be cared for by the man he had been best friends with for twenty years and was now dating.

Belphegor turned back to his magazine and crossed his legs in a futile attempt to hide his excitement, despite it having begun to soften as he became focused on his guardian's distress; Mammon had been cranky lately and hadn't been in the mood to satisfy her lover's unquenchable needs. He wasn't used to not getting any sex, so it was strange for him to suddenly go from several sex-induced orgasms a day to having to pleasure himself.

"After all these years, you still call me Bucking Horse." The other blond chuckled as he pulled his hands back to himself and regarded Squalo with kind eyes. "We've known each other for how long now? Twenty years or so? You could at least call me Dino once in a while."

Squalo grumbled something before he shrugged. "I'll consider it..."

Belphegor glanced at the two older males behind his long bangs and listened to their conversation. It was nice to see Squalo interacting so calmly with someone for a change, and for him to get the love and affection he deserved – it was just a shame the man was almost too afraid to let himself get so close to someone else, let alone allow them to touch him so intimately.

"Where's Mammon anyway?"

Belphegor blew a tuft of hair out of his eyes before he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "She said she was going to watch TV in our room for a while. She was napping when I went to check on her. The prince made her a chocolate milkshake and everything..."

The taller blond – Dino, Belphegor had learnt many years ago – laughed before he turned to Squalo with a soft expression on his face. "He really loves Mammon, doesn't he?"

Squalo nodded in reply while Belphegor giggled. "Yup~ The prince is _in love _with Mammy~ He figured that out when he was little~"

"When we first introduced them, Bel claimed he was going to marry her when he got older." Squalo rolled his eyes. "All this time and still no marriage proposal."

"I'm getting there." Belphegor yawned as he tossed his magazine onto the coffee table. "That stuff takes effort, and Mammy might not appreciate it because of how expensive it'll be."

"Fuck that; just get on your knees already."

"Oh, the prince does that every day~"

Squalo rolled his eyes again while Dino blushed and glanced away, having never gotten used to Bel's dirty nature; the smaller blond had been such a sweet, innocent child, but once puberty had started... Dino would never get used to the complete change in personality after Bel had begun developing sexually.

Belphegor giggled as he opened his mouth to speak again, only to stop as he heard his girlfriend's soft voice calling for him. He turned around to see her entering the living room, and his smile became gentler than ever as he reached out and touched Mammon's growing stomach with tenderness.

"What's wrong, Mammy? Can I do anything for you?"

Mammon nodded as she reached out. She took Belphegor's larger hand in her own and guided it to a specific spot on her stomach before holding it there and smiling down at the younger adult. Belphegor tilted his head as a confused frown crossed his face. He was about to question what Mammon was up to before he felt it; a slight jolt against his hand. He gasped, almost unable to believe what he was feeling.

"Is it... kicking...?" When Mammon nodded at him, the biggest, most sincere smile crossed Bel's face as he moved to nuzzle his cheek against the bulge. He felt tears well up in his eyes as small fingers caressed his head and played with his blond strands before moving to stroke pale cheeks. "It's... It's really our baby, isn't it...?"

"It is, Bel."

Belphegor sniffed as he reached up and wiped hastily at his eyes. He tilted his head up more so that he could look at Mammon's face as he whispered, "I... I want to keep it, Mammy... I just... I'm scared..."

Mammon shushed the younger gently as she moved to sit on the couch so that Belphegor could lay across her lap. "Why are you scared?"

"...I don't... want it to... to have the life I did..." The younger blond wiped again at his eyes and sniffed as he tried to control his emotions. "I just... I don't want it to..."

"It won't, Bel," Mammon promised. "You'd be a great parent; I sincerely doubt you'd ever treat it as bad as your parents treated you."

"What if I mess up...?" Belphegor's body trembled as his tears came harder, finally confessing his fears to his loved one. "...What if... What if I'm not any good...?"

"Voi... Bel, you shithead..." Squalo stood up and moved to the younger's side. He reached out so that he could wrap an arm around the younger male's shoulders as he explained things the way they were. "Bel, we all know you had a shitty childhood, but we also know you'd _never _treat your own kid with the same hatred yours did. You know how to love; you just like being a royal fucking pain in the ass. You were good with Fran once you got used to him, and you were like fucking brothers, so why would your own kid be any different?"

"I'm a bad person..." Belphegor pulled his knees up to his chest as he shook his head. "I'm... I don't like people, and it's hard for me to trust... I used to fight all the time at school..."

"Like hell you're a bad fucking person, Belphegor; you're one of the most considerate people I know – even if only once you get to know someone. Mammon wouldn't be here with you now if she thought you were a bad person, and she certainly wouldn't be having your kid – and there's no fucking way I'd have put up with you for so long if you didn't have your good traits. You're one annoying brat, but I love you anyway, Bel."

Belphegor lifted his head from Mammon's lap and wiped at his eyes. He wrapped an arm around his legs as he sat in a curled position before speaking in a soft whisper. "...Do you... really think I can be a good daddy...?"

The older three adults in the room all nodded, and they were relieved when Belphegor started smiling again amidst his tears; as upset as the blond could get sometimes, he had never been too difficult to cheer up.

"...Well... Then I want to be a daddy, Mammy..." Belphegor sent his lover a hopeful smile as his eyes shone with excitement. He reached out to pull Squalo into a hug as he buried his face in against the man's chest. "I love you, too, Squ-Squ..."

Squalo returned the embrace for a short while before he pulled away and returned to his own lover. He glanced at his watch before he reached down to take the older male's hand in order to help Dino from the couch.

"We're going home, brat," the long-haired male called over his shoulder. "We'll come back out later."

"Bye, Squ-Squ~" Belphegor was smiling lopsidedly as he returned his face to the woman's stomach so that he could coo at it childishly in his newfound excitement; now that he had been reassured that it was okay, he was starting to look forward to having a kid.

Outside, the two men were getting into Squalo's car. They closed the doors and strapped themselves in before the younger male started the car and pulled away from the kerb. There was a comfortable silence between them for a few minutes until it was broken by Dino.

"Do you miss Xanxus?" Dino could understand if Squalo did; he knew just how much the younger had been in love with Xanxus. "Or Fran?"

Squalo shrugged. "Of course I miss them, but that fucking asshole had it coming... And that little backstabbing shit... Don't get me started on _him_."

"Actually..." The taller male rubbed the back of his neck before he said, "I heard from Tsuna who heard from Mukuro that Fran's been really depressed ever since... then... Tsuna said Mukuro said Byakuran had been the cause of it, and that he had roped Fran in."

Squalo's knuckles turned white as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. He growled something inaudible as he waited for Dino to continue talking.

"Fran got hurt really bad, so that may have explained all those bruises on him."

"Yes, but it doesn't fucking explain why _my _boyfriend was giving him a fucking _handjob!_" Squalo snapped. "He... Xanxus kissed _him _with more love and passion than he's given _me _in over _ten fucking years! _...I don't know, Dino... I'm just so tired of all this shit... I don't know what to think anymore... I don't want Xanxus back – I'm happier with you – but Fran... Belphegor misses him... They were pretty close, and he doesn't know who to side with... Bel's really confused, and it's hurting him…"

"Bel misses Xanxus, too," Dino pointed out. "He's still really upset about everything that happened; he thinks it's his fault because he didn't try hard enough to keep Fran away."

"How do you know that?"

"He told me. He also said it's scaring him seeing us together."

"Scaring him?" Squalo raised an eyebrow. "Why the fuck would us being together _scare_ him?"

"Because he hasn't known anything _but _you two together for the past eighteen years of his life, and... He doesn't like the way you become anxious around me."

"That's not _my _fault...!"

"I know it's not... But it's hard on him, too, Squalo. Try and understand where he's coming from; it must feel as if his parents have split up or something; he's never had anyone but you and Xanxus."

With a sigh, the long-haired man ran his fingers through his locks. He nodded. He knew it wasn't fair to not think of Belphegor's feelings as well – not when it was affecting the young blond as much as everyone else involved. "Alright... I'll talk to him about it tonight."

Dino smiled at the smaller male as he nodded. "Good on you, Squalo. Want to go out for dinner tonight? My treat."

Squalo nodded. He was still trying to get used to being treated so well, and it was making him nervous. "If it's on you..."

"Of course it is, Squalo; like I'd make you use the last of your savings on it."

A soft smirk crossed Squalo's face at this; at least _someone _cared that he was currently jobless and struggling to make ends meet.


	14. Chapter 14

In the months that had passed by, Fran had discovered a completely new side to Xanxus; in which the man had previously been aggressive with violent tendencies, the dark-haired male had been gentle with Fran. He hadn't hurt the younger physically, and though he could still get annoyed and spew obscenities from his mouth, he would quickly stop himself and instead look away, almost as if he knew what he was doing wrong.

Fran never minded whenever Xanxus would get annoyed with him; all that mattered was that he was finally getting the love and affection he had wanted for all this time. The boy even had a feeling Xanxus knew what he had been doing wrong and was working hard to fix it – something told him that was why he was only now seeing the side of Xanxus he wasn't sure even Squalo knew existed. Love was all that he could ask of the man, so he tried his hardest to be understanding of the older male's temper.

"Hey, frog."

Fran glanced up from the couch as he slipped his bookmark in between the two pages he had been reading. He placed the book onto the coffee table before he stretched and looked up at the man in the doorway. "Yes?"

"Steak." As an afterthought, Xanxus added, "Please."

Fran sighed as he pulled his blankets from his frail body and stood up. "It's two in the morning... Do you really need a steak now? I thought you were sleeping."

"I was, but I'm hungry." Xanxus stepped further into the room until he was close enough to take teal locks in between his fingers. "I'll fuck you if you make me a steak."

Fran rolled his eyes as he switched the lamp off and headed into the kitchen. "That's not a fair deal; what if I don't want sex?"

"When have you ever turned me down?" Red eyes fixed on the boy, eagerly awaiting the answer.

"I don't know; maybe when you were harassing me." Fran pushed past the man. "What if I just want to cuddle tonight?"

Xanxus snorted. "Cuddling is for pussies. Sex is the best thing we could be doing together."

"I like to cuddle more than have sex, so if that makes me a pussy, so be it." Fran flipped the kitchen light on as he looked around and regarded the mess laid out on the counters before him. He had never realised until now that Squalo was the only person who had kept this house spotless – with him gone, it was trashed. "I'll clean up the kitchen and then make the steak."

Xanxus shrugged. He grabbed the younger's wrist as Fran started moving forward and tugged him back. He leant down so that he could crush their lips together before he entwined their tongues for a few minutes. After they broke away for air, he he picked the boy up from the ground and carried him upstairs.

"Xanxus...?" Fran looked down to see the floor moving beneath him; the man wanted steak, so why was Xanxus taking him out of the kitchen? "What are you...?"

"Steak can wait," Xanxus growled. He bit Fran's earlobe as he slipped a hand in beneath the white pyjama shirt the smaller male was wearing. He caressed tiny nubs to bring them to full hardness as they finally crossed the threshold of their bedroom.

Fran moaned as he was dropped onto the bed and felt a large hand slip beneath the hem of his pants. He cried out as his shaft was grasped and a hand moved steadily along it in order to bring pleasure.

Xanxus lazily unzipped his own pants as he leant over the younger and chewed at Fran's bottom lip. "Can I do it hard?"

Fran shook his head; he didn't like hard sex; after what Byakuran had done to him, it had been hard to trust the older male with his body – but to his honest surprise, Xanxus was gentle with him and Fran was just glad the man seemed to understand.

Letting hot fingers prepare him for what was about to come, Fran closed his eyes and let himself be overwhelmed by the pleasure he was slowly getting used to.

_**~~XX~~**_

Fran awoke the next morning to Xanxus shaking him. Emerald eyes blinked as the boy pushed himself into a sitting position so that he could look up curiously at the man.

"Xanxus..." Fran yawned before he let himself drop back onto the mattress, still tired over their actions earlier that morning.

"Get dressed." Xanxus himself was already out of bed and at the wardrobe, and Fran could see him pushing moodily past all of the clothing Squalo had left behind; the younger male still hadn't been back to get his belongings, and Xanxus was beginning to believe the other never would. Seeing everything Squalo owned still sitting where he had last left them always bothered the man, but he just couldn't bring himself to move any of it – why that was, even he didn't know. "I need to take you to the company and go over shit for me."

"Why...? I wouldn't have any idea of what I'm doing there, Xanxus."

"Because that shitty shark's long gone!" Xanxus snapped unintentionally before catching himself. He took a deep breath before he explained, "...Squalo was my second-in-command... With him gone, that faggot trash has been dealing with extra loads. The prince trash refuses to work for me anymore as well, so I might as well teach you what to do."

"You're giving me a job at your company?" Fran blinked in disbelief. He didn't know how he felt about this; while he knew they had been teaching Belphegor since he was eight, they hadn't officially employed him until he was older and more experienced.

But Fran... Fran had no experience whatsoever with how things were done, so why would Xanxus just suddenly give him a job in management without any preparation or experience?

"Do you want it or not?" Xanxus growled. He pulled a shirt out from the wardrobe and tossed it onto the bed beside him before he searched for pants. "If you don't, go the fuck back to sleep and let me have my shower."

"I'll take it, Xanxus; I just didn't think you'd be offering it to me." Fran climbed out of the bed as well and moved to his own room to get clothes ready for after his shower. He shivered slightly as the chill attacked his naked body, knowing to get himself ready as quick as he could; Xanxus hated nothing more than having to get up and go oversee the company, so he always left waking up for the last minute.

"Good." Xanxus disappeared into the bathroom conjoining his bedroom and left Fran to use the one out in the hallway.

As the hot water ran down Xanxus' body, he couldn't help but acknowledge how much it hurt to be replacing Squalo the way he was; he hated knowing that Squalo was gone and that it was his fault, but the knowledge hadn't truly sunk in until he had come to realise that he had no choice but to give the long-haired man's job to someone else.

Xanxus shook the thoughts from his head as he grabbed the bottle of shampoo – careful to avoid the one Squalo had always used for his own hair – and lathered a decent amount in to his dark locks. He knew not to think about Squalo because when he did, things didn't feel right. Squalo should have been back by his side, but they _all _knew that wasn't going to happen again.

_**~~XX~~**_

"This is really big." Fran drank in the floor they had just stepped out of the elevator onto; it was an open space with cubicles taking up most of the room, and a few personal offices were scattered along the walls, but what amazed Fran the most was how many people were working away at their computers or finalising paperwork – never before had Fran known so many people to be in the one room. "How do you keep track of everyone?"

Xanxus shrugged. "I don't. That was part of Squalo's job."

Fran nodded. He walked past all of the cubicles as he followed Xanxus towards the office in the far left corner. He was surprised that not one worker acknowledged their presence while, on the other side of the room, Lussuria seemed to be having pleasant conversations with anyone he passed. Then again, this _was _Xanxus they were talking about, and Fran could only imagine the way he had treated his workers.

Finally arriving at the office Fran presumed to be Xanxus', he was surprised by how neat it was inside; two desks sat on either side of the room with computers and documents spread out on both of them. There were filing cabinets resting by each desk, while a bookcase containing various folders stood by the door. The couch was pushed against the wall away from the door and sat under a huge window that oversaw the _much _smaller buildings that surrounded the company. Unsurprisingly, a wine rack was next to it, filled with various bottles. Fran could only roll his eyes at this sight, knowing he shouldn't have expected any less.

"Come." Xanxus led Fran over to the desk on their right and sat the boy at it as he pressed the power button on the monitor. He scribbled the password down on a sheet of paper before he slipped it beneath the keyboard and logged the younger in. He brought up the email tab, giving Fran his first job. "Read through those emails. Some of those are regarding mergers and business negotiations. Any one of those you see, reply back explaining that Squalo is gone and you're taking over and will be up-to-date with everything soon."

"What do I do if they're for different things?"

"Gather what they're about and reply as best as you can. If you're not sure what to do, tell me." Xanxus left the desk and moved to the other one before he logged in and began typing steadily away at the keyboard.

Fran worked slow through the emails, doing as best he could to make sure he wasn't about to ruin everything and accidentally sell the company to the highest bidder. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he had only gone through a dozen emails before the office door opened and Lussuria stepped in.

"What do you want, faggot trash?" Xanxus pushed the desk chair away as he kicked his feet up on the desk and cared nothing for the documents he knocked to the ground.

Lussuria smiled gently as he closed the door behind him, aware of the fact that Leviathan had followed behind in order to try and get Xanxus' attention. "I'm just here on Squa's behalf, dear~"

"That shitty shark?" Xanxus raised an eyebrow before he grit his teeth, angered by the fact that, as hard as he tried, he just couldn't seem to escape the younger's existence. "What about him?"

"To be honest, he moved on shortly after you two broke up." Lussuria knew he was treading a fine line here, but he also knew that Xanxus had the right to know what was going on. "He's been living with me, but started dating Dino about a week after. He's going to move in to Dino's home tonight, so I just thought you should know that they're going to go get his belongings today while you're not home."

"He's left his shit there for all this time because I've been _home_?" Xanxus rolled his eyes. "Fuck, what was wrong with _you _getting it for him?"

"To be fair, Squa didn't want any of it back because he felt it would be too hard remembering you at the sight of it all. Dino's been a sweetheart and coaxed him into going to get it all~"

Xanxus growled as he ran long fingers through his dark locks. It bothered him to know Squalo had moved on from him so quickly, but he also knew he had seen this coming for _years _now; Squalo and Dino had been best friends long before the silver-haired male met Xanxus, and it was no secret the clumsy blond crushed on the younger male – Squalo just happened to like Xanxus more.

Xanxus shook his head and tried to convince himself he didn't give a shit what the two younger males were up to, but he knew he cared – he cared a lot. "Why did they get together in the first fucking place?"

"Well, you know Dino~ He's so sweet and loving; he put it out there that he was still interested in Squalo if Squa-chan wanted him, and gave the poor dear time to think it over. Squa-chan was feeling a bit lonely and took him up on the offer."

"Stupid fucking Cavallone scum..." Xanxus snarled. He glared angrily at Lussuria before he hissed, "There was a fucking reason I never liked that shark trash being near him..."

"Honey, Squalo would never have cheated on you; he was just spending time with his friend. That's all."

"Hn. I suppose the little fucker doesn't want me back in his life at all."

Lussuria frowned as he nodded. "It's very hard for him, sweetie... Maybe things will change with time, but for now, he needs his poor heart to heal."

"Like I give a fuck; I don't want him back, either." Xanxus crossed his arms against his chest as he gestured to Fran, still sitting on the other side of the office. "I've still got that fucking frog; I didn't lose anything."

"What about Bel, honey? He misses you just as much."

"Well, if the little fuck didn't quit on me, he _wouldn't _miss me."

"He's just conflicted and confused about what's happening; he doesn't know any better – no matter his age, it's still the same as if his beloved parents divorced."

"We're not his parents; his parents kicked his face in daily and made sure he knew his brother was better than he could ever hope to be."

"Maybe so... But he views you as his parents."

Before Xanxus could reply, Fran asked, "Does Bel-senpai miss me, too?"

Lussuria looked over to Fran and smiled. "Of course he does, dear. As I said, he just doesn't know what to think, and he's scared of making the wrong decision regarding this whole thing."

"Maybe I should go and see him..." Fran glanced at the keyboard as his emerald orbs conveyed his conflict; he was certain that Belphegor would still be mad at him for what he had said about the baby during their last fight, but he loved the blond and didn't want to lose him. "Can I go see Squalo, too?"

"I'm sure Bel would be happy to have you visit him, dear~ But Squalo may still need some more time to himself; he's still healing, after all."

Fran nodded in understanding, turning back to the computer; he knew this conversation probably wasn't any of his business in the first place.

_I hope Squalo will eventually want to see me again..._Fran sighed as he responded to one of the emails. _I really miss him... He was like the father I never had..._

_**~~XX~~**_

"Are you really going to go see that prince trash again?" Xanxus looked at the other from the corner of his eye as he drove them home that night.

Fran shrugged. He never took his eyes away from the passenger window. "I want to, but... He's probably got enough on his plate without me adding to it..."

"I don't give a fuck if you do or not," the older male clarified. "Just... don't leave."

"Why would I leave?" At this, confused emerald eyes focused on the man. "Xanxus, you should know by now that I really _do _love you. I'm not like Bel-senpai; I can see for myself what the truth is, who did what, and I _know _who I'm siding with. Squalo overreacted to something he didn't understand, but I can understand where he was coming from. He took his hurt out on me, but that doesn't change the fact that he was wrong in his assumptions, or that he was the one to have given me the life I had. He made a mistake because he was blinded by despair. You and I... We messed up, too, Xanxus. I should have listened to everyone and stayed away from Byakuran. In my own hurt... I sought out your comfort when I shouldn't have. We all messed up, Xanxus – that's why I'm not siding with anyone about this; I'm just trying to get over it and move on with my life."

"What would you do if the shark trash ever wanted me to take him back?"

Fran didn't even hesitate to answer. "I'd let him have you, if that was what you _both _wanted. I was the one who got in between you in the first place, and even now I know it's not right I have you. It's not fair to Squalo, but he's moved on, so there's no sense in me not taking my chance with you."

"For a snarky little shit, you sure do have your head on right." Xanxus reached out and patted teal hair. "I'm kind of glad Squalo brought you home – I like you a lot more than I do that snobby little blond trash."

"I think everyone knows you never liked Bel-senpai, Xanxus; you made it clear more often than not."

Xanxus snorted. "True. Make me a steak when we get home. ...Please."

"Okay." Somehow, just hearing Xanxus say please made being the man's personal slave worth it.


	15. Chapter 15

**Most of you would probably remember I dropped this fic a bit over a year ago and was uncertain as to whether or not I would continue it due to my dog having been killed while I was working on this. Well, I will be continuing it, and I've actually gone back and re-written the previous chapters to a much higher quality and added in a few more scenes. I've also developed the characters a little more, too; especially Bel's character, since he had always been left ambiguous and he didn't really get enough writing time to develop him much. It's up to you guys if you want to go back and re-read the story to see what's been changed; I don't mind if you would rather wait for the new chapters to be written, but if you do go back and have a little look, please let me know what you think of the re-write. If you think it's higher quality, if you think I've done this or that better or there was something you think there was something in my style you liked more in the original version, please let me know. I love constructive criticism and to know that you guys enjoy what I do as much as I do. **

When Xanxus' eyes snapped open at an ungodly hour of the morning, it was to Fran's phone ringing. Growling to himself, he elbowed the boy next to him, frustrated to have had such a good dream disturbed.

"Stupid frog trash, answer your fucking phone." Xanxus shoved the younger again for good measure, having never been able to tolerate his sleep being disturbed.

Fran blinked sleepily as he glanced at Xanxus with eyes blurred from sleep. He took his phone out from under his pillow to find an unknown number ringing him. He was half-tempted to leave it to ring out on silent and go back to sleep, but for reasons Fran may never understand, he instead answered the call.

"Hello...?" Fran tried to keep his eyes open as he awaited the reply, only to come to his senses as he recognised Squalo's quiet voice on the other end of the line – it had been more than half a year since the boy had so much as heard from the older male, so why would Squalo be ringing him at... At three-thirty-two in the morning?

"Shithead..." The sounds Fran could hear in the background told him Squalo was in a car, but what the hell was going on? None of this made sense. "Get your ass down to the hospital now."

"What? Why?" Fran rubbed at his emerald orbs, not understanding; this just... This wasn't right.

"Mammon's about to have her baby, and Bel demands you to be there." Squalo mumbled something to someone in the background before he turned back to the phone. "...Bring Xanxus, if he'll come."

Fran had become excited at the knowledge of his friend finally having her baby, and he couldn't help but sit up in the bed and tug the blankets further over his naked body. "I'll be there, Squalo. Where do I go?"

"I'll wait out the front for you. Hurry your ass up."

"Okay." After ending the call, Fran turned to look at Xanxus and found red orbs looking back at him. "Mammon's having her baby, and Bel-senpai and Squalo want us there."

Xanxus grunted, almost as if he was agitated by this news, but he still got himself out of the bed and went to fetch clean clothing. "You're fucking lucky I've needed to talk to that shitty shark, or you'd be walking to the hospital."

Fran rolled his eyes as he, too, went to get dressed, excited about what was going to happen; for months, he hadn't seen nor heard from any of the others, but what better way to meet up with them than with Mammon having her baby? Even Xanxus seemed to understand the importance of this as he was a man who would _never _have gotten out of bed this early for _anything_ else.

Fran made sure he put on his best clothing before he moved back to Xanxus' side and followed the older male downstairs and out to the garage. He was excited about Mammon's baby, but what he truly hoped for was that, by some miracle, Squalo and Xanxus would make up and the rift between them would disappear.

_**~~XX~~**_

Having met up with Squalo and Dino by the front of the hospital, the two had led them up several floors and to a waiting room, explaining that until the baby was born, it was better to wait out here lest they get in the way.

Xanxus hadn't said a word to anyone ever since their arrival, and though he often accidentally locked gazes with Squalo, they were both quick to look away and clear their throats in uneasiness. Dino copped nasty glares from the oldest male, but he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut and instead talk to Fran, catching up on all their months apart.

Fran was quick to realise something important. "Did anyone call Master and tell him?"

"Bel tried, but his phone is off." Squalo looked down at his fingernails as the minutes ticked by, wishing he could gather the nerve to talk to his ex.

"Oh, yeah; Master never sleeps with it on because apparently his Japanese friends are too stupid to realise Italy is in a different time zone, and always ring when he's sleeping." Fran earned a laugh from Dino, a snort from Xanxus, and a small smile from Squalo.

"They mean well," Dino said softly, sticking up for the others; he also was close to Mukuro's friends, even thinking of one as his little brother.

With a sigh, Squalo stood up and uttered soft words over his shoulder. "Anyone for a coffee?"

"Please." Dino smiled at his lover while Fran nodded.

Xanxus was quick to get to his feet as well so that he could stride lazily over to the younger's side. "If someone doesn't go with you, you're going to get yourself fucking lost."

Squalo swallowed heavily as he nodded. He was used to Xanxus' ways of hiding what he really felt, and he knew that what the taller male was saying was that he wanted to talk alone with the younger. "...Okay, Xanxus..."

Fran and Dino looked at each other as the two left. There was deep concern in Dino's eyes as the blond asked, "Do you think they're going to fight again...?"

"I don't know..." Fran moved closer to Dino so that he could rest his head against the older male's shoulder as he yawned. "I'm tired... When will the baby be here?"

"It could take a while, Fran. Be patient. This is Mammon's first baby, so it won't happen quickly."

Fran nodded. He didn't know anything at all about babies, let alone how labour worked. He didn't mind waiting here, though; he wanted to see the baby as soon as he could.

_**~~XX~~**_

"You're an ass. Do you know that?"

"I know."

"I hate you so much."

"I know."

"You put me through so much fucking shit, and I'll never forgive you for _any _of it."

"I know."

"...I miss you, though... So fucking much..."

"..."

Xanxus and Squalo were just coming back from the cafeteria, each carrying two hot cups of coffee. Squalo had a pained expression on his face while Xanxus appeared to be as indifferent as ever, but inside, the older male was in turmoil; what was he supposed to say now that they were finally together again?

"I just wish... we were still teenagers..." Squalo sighed as he took a sip of his drink. "When did we drift apart like this?"

Xanxus shrugged. "..."

"You really hurt me, Xanxus... I loved you so fucking much, and I _trusted _you..."

"I know."

"Stop saying that!" Squeezing his eyes shut, Squalo shook his head. "If you knew... If you knew, you wouldn't have done it in the first place!"

"I'm an ass, Squalo. Remember? Just because I know now doesn't mean I knew then. I didn't... realise... to the extent..."

"It's too late now, Xanxus; you had your time to realise how much of a fucking bastard of a boyfriend you were, but you didn't until I left you. Don't think you can have me back just because you got a fucking dose of reality."

"I don't want you back." Xanxus shrugged. He ignored the look of hurt that crossed the younger's face and instead continued on. "I have the frog trash, and you have that clumsy scum. We're even, aren't we?"

"You can't even... You don't even have the fucking decency to apologise, do you...?"

"I never said I wasn't trying to."

"..."

"I have no one to argue with, or to make me do some fucking work at the company. If I go to sleep, the frog trash just leaves me. If I give him orders, he obeys. He doesn't yell and cause a fucking scene in front of everyone. I miss that. It made going to work somewhat enjoyable because I liked seeing how you'd react to everything."

"..."

"And there's no one to tell me what a lazy ass I am, and no one can cook steak like you."

"If that's your idea of a fucking apology, than you can forget i –"

"- No one would ever put up with me like you did, and I'm fucking stupid to have not realised what I had until you left. I was a complete ass to you because I took you for granted. I've leant my lesson."

"..."

"Are you working anywhere else?"

"...No... I used my savings on paying rent to Lussuria... I moved in with the Bucking Horse once I became broke – nowhere else would employ me."

"Will you come back to the company?"

"What? Why the fuck should I? So you can treat me like shit again?"

"So you have a job and you're financially stable, you dumb fuck. Why the fuck would you pay rent to that faggot trash, anyway?"

"Because he gave me his spare bedroom, fed me his own food and treated me as if I _belonged _there; I _made _him take my money because I'm not some inconsiderate fuck moocher."

"Take your old job back. And bring the prince trash with you. It's boring without you two."

"I don't want it back, Xanxus."

"Take it. Fifty per cent pay-rise and double the lunchbreaks. You can even have your own office and I won't bother you unless I have to."

Squalo sighed. "You're not going to give in until I say yes, will you...?"

"Of course not, you stupid fuck. Take the job offer."

"...Well... I guess it's better than learning a new job..." Squalo nodded to himself. "Yeah... I really need the money... Just one condition though..."

"What's that?"

"Can we go back to being friends?" A shy smile crossed Squalo's face as a hopeful glint appeared in his eye.

"Why the fuck not?" Xanxus shrugged. "You did all my homework for me when we were still friends; you might do all my paperwork for me now."

Squalo snorted as he stopped walking so that he could shake his head. "Like fuck."

The older male didn't move as skinny arms wrapped around him; he just let his chin rest against a head of silver hair, feeling calmer than he had in a while.

"I want to start over with you – let's face it; I can't _not _love you, even if you _are _the biggest dick in the world."

"I'm glad you acknowledge my size like that."

Snorting again, Squalo shook his head. "Well, that too, I guess."

Xanxus smirked in triumph before he started walking again, letting the younger follow him. It was odd to feel so content right now, but he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from him now that he and Squalo were back on good terms.

Maybe it was a good thing Squalo had adopted that blond trash because if it weren't for him, he and Squalo wouldn't have had this talk.

_**~~XX~~**_

Even with a coffee in his system, Fran had still fallen asleep with his head in Squalo's lap as he lay sprawled across the couch in the waiting room. Dino sat next the long-haired male and talked quietly to his lover as Squalo threaded long fingers through teal hair. Xanxus had disappeared somewhere, but no one could blame him; it had been several long hours of waiting, and Xanxus wasn't a patient person in the least.

"She's birthing it naturally, isn't she?" Dino whispered. He did his best to not disturb Fran's rest; it was a lot to ask of a seventeen-year-old to be sitting here like this, and the blond could only admire the youngest's loyalty; he knew a lot of teenagers Fran's age would have gone back home long ago.

"She is." Squalo dropped his head onto his boyfriend's shoulder as he tried not to let his eyes slip shut; he was as tired as Fran looked, but he knew he needed to be here in case something happened. "Can you try that pineapple bastard's phone? It's past seven; he's probably awake by now. I'll try Lussuria's phone soon."

Dino nodded. He grabbed his phone from his pocket as he stood up to have some privacy. Fran was still fast asleep, leaving Squalo to stare down at the boy as he caressed a teal head. He sighed, feeling more at peace now that he had the younger back.

"You'd hold it against me if I admitted I missed you, you snarky little shit..." Squalo shook his head before he added on, "I should have been more understanding..."

Squalo let the silence wash over them before he turned to look out of the window. There wasn't much to see except for a dark grey sky and the occasional flash of lightning here and there, but the man didn't mind; any sound was welcome over the silence.

When Dino stepped back into the waiting room, it was with a relieved smile on his face. "Mukuro said he's on his way now."

Squalo nodded. "That's good; Bel would probably bitch if he never showed up."

The blond laughed as he took his seat once more and whispered with his lover while Fran slept peacefully. Xanxus still hadn't come back from wherever he had disappeared to, and soon enough Mukuro made his own appearance with his usual playful smile on his face as he sat on Squalo's left.

"I did wonder why I had so many missed calls on my phone when I turned it on this morning." The blue-haired male reached down to shake Fran into waking consciousness. "Now I understand."

It took a while to rouse Fran, but once he was sitting up, he blinked sleepily at the long-haired man. "Master...?"

Mukuro nodded. He wrapped his arm around Fran's shoulders as he felt the younger instinctively press against him and rest his head on the older male's shoulder. He hugged the teen close as he waited patiently for the baby to be born, wondering how long it would take; like Fran, he also was eager to see it.

_**~~XX~~**_

"About time you came back." Squalo moved over to give Xanxus room to sit down as the man approached them with a bored expression on his face. "Where were you?"

"Steakhouse." Xanxus shrugged before taking the spot that had been offered to him. "Any news?"

"No."

Fran, who had been lightly dozing on Mukuro's shoulder, woke back up at Xanxus' voice. He blinked a few times before he looked around, and his attention suddenly grabbed by one of the doors in the distance opening. He watched it, curious about who was leaving and why, only to reach out and tug at Squalo's shirt as he pointed to the blond who had just ran out with a red face wet from tears.

"Bel-senpai's crying." Fran became more alert at this, knowing _nothing _really made Belphegor cry outside of this 'trauma' everyone said he had but had never truly shown Fran – had something gone wrong? Was everyone okay?

"Fuck." Squalo got to his feet and chased after the younger male, leaving the others in frozen surprise. "Belphegor!"

Fran watched as Belphegor stopped running, only to turn around and face Squalo. He slid down the wall behind him as he brought his knees to his chest. He crouched over them and tugged violently at his blond locks as he cried into his knees, and when Squalo asked him what was wrong, he simply choked.

The blond's mouth opened and closed wordlessly a few times, and just when Fran thought he might answer the long-haired male, Fran could only frown when Belphegor cried harder and turned away in protest.

What had happened for Belphegor to be in this state?

_**~~XX~~**_

"Twins..."

"What?"

"Twins..."

Squalo blinked as Belphegor whispered to him. He finally understood what had happened to make the younger so upset, and it hurt _him, _too. He frowned as he sat down next to the blond and wrapped an arm around trembling shoulders, not sure if Bel would bounce back as easily as he usually did; this right here was _serious_.

"Just because she had twins, it doesn't mean everything's about to go to shit, Bel." With a sigh, Squalo shrugged. "You were so excited for this once I assured you you'd be a good parent. Why should it change now that you've got two of them?"

"They... They'll hate each other, and... It'll be just like when I was little..." Bel rubbed his eyes before he dropped his head onto Squalo's shoulder. "I don't want my kids to hate each other like Siel hated me... I'm scared I won't be any good as a parent..."

"How will you know if you don't try? If you just sit here and turn your back on them, they _will _hate you. If you give it your best, there's nothing more you can do, and they'll appreciate it. Are they girls or boys?" Squalo knew the gender should have made no difference, but it was no secret Belphegor had desperately wanted a girl – it wasn't _his _fault he had had a horrible childhood and was terrified of his own kids having the same one he did, and that fear was exuberated by his child having the same gender as himself, knowing that because Bel had been born as the younger brother, it was why he had been so badly abused.

"Boys..." The blond sighed and hugged his knees tighter.

"You've got to go back in there and hold them, Bel." Squalo stood up and tried to tug the younger to his feet as well, but Bel didn't want to budge. "Go in and hold them, and give it all you've got – if not for them, but for Mammon; it must really be hurting her to know you've ran off like this."

"Mammy... didn't know they were twins..." Belphegor at first tried to resist being pulled up, but he soon gave in and allowed himself to be pulled into the waiting room with everyone else. He ducked his head as he tried to hide his weakness from everyone, ashamed to be seen like this. "Why did they...? I could have handled just one boy, but... But twins...? I can't... I'm not... I couldn't have two, Squ-Squ... I'll get so angry with them..."

"Everyone knows you have a temper, but you've _never _shown it to me or Mammon," the white-haired male pointed out. "You'd never hurt the ones you love, Belphegor – you're too busy being an attention whore to get mad at our notice of you, and these kids would _love _for you to baby them and never put them down. We all know _Mammon _hates when you baby her."

"Bel-senpai..."

Belphegor blinked as he looked at Fran, and his chest warmed slightly as he noticed Fran and Xanxus had come, after all. In a soft tone, he asked, "Yes, Froggy...?"

"Bel-senpai needs to see his kid and give it a hug because I'll seriously hate you forever if you walk out on it now." Fran was emotionless as ever, but they all knew he wasn't joking this time around; having been abandoned by his mother and never meeting his father once, he was sensitive about these kinds of things. "You've given Mammon all this hope that she'll have you to help her with this, and now you're out here crying. Bel-senpai never cries over anything, so why over this? Because your family hated you? I don't know what they did to you, senpai, but you'd be doing the _right _thing by going back in there and giving your kid love and Mammon support because right now, you're no better than _either _of our parents. I know you're scared, but you don't have to be; just be yourself and the baby will love you, senpai."

"They're _twins, _Froggy..." Belphegor flinched as Mukuro kicked his shin. He hadn't noticed his best friend coming to join them, but it didn't stop him from turning to glare at his friend. _"What?"_

Mukuro stood up without a word and grabbed the older male's wrist so that he could drag the smaller man back into the room he had come out of. No one followed, knowing Mammon had been clear she wanted only Belphegor with her during the birthing process.

The delivery room was fairly small. There were doctors and midwifes going about their jobs as Mammon rested in the bed. There was a layer of sweat on her face as she panted softly, and she held two tiny babies against her chest. They had small strands of golden hairs on their heads, and their eyes were half-closed as they lay peacefully against their mother wrapped in warm blue blankets.

The woman nodded politely to Mukuro; she knew the man was trying to talk sense into his friend. It had honestly hurt her when Belphegor had left the room in a hurry, but she understood; her boyfriend hadn't been prepared for _twins_.

"Viper, may I pick one of them up?" Mukuro was polite, and he respected the fact that Mammon might not want to part with her babies just yet. He offered a smile as he received a nod in response, and he ever-so-carefully picked the twin on the right up.

"Be careful with him, Mukuro..." Mammon watched with wary eyes as her friend gently cradled the baby in his arms so that he could show it to Belphegor. It wasn't that she didn't trust her friend because she _did, _but that was her _baby_…

"This is your kid, Belphegor." Mukuro stepped closer to the older male so that he could try and encourage him to interact with the baby. He wasn't surprised when his friend backed up, but he didn't let the other win; he instead continued to close the distance between them. "Do you want to hold him?"

Belphegor swallowed as he looked in between Mammon and Mukuro. He tried his hardest to believe that everyone was right when they reassured him that his kids would have a better childhood than _he _had; he really wanted these kids - he just didn't want to be a bad father.

"Just hold him for a bit and see how you feel," Mukuro suggested. He passed the baby over when his friend finally nodded and made sure the blond was supporting it properly.

Belphegor's obscured eyes looked into purple orbs, much like his own; while Mammon's eyes were a lighter violet, the blond had deep purple eyes reflected in his child. He frowned as he locked gaze with the boy, and it was then he knew he didn't want to give the kid back to Mammon, but nervous of the fact he may unintentionally hurt it; how confusing parenthood was…

"You're doing well, Bel," Mammon promised. She held the other twin in protective arms as she encouraged her boyfriend; if he would respond to anyone, it would be her. "You're doing very well."

Belphegor sent a genuine smile at his lover as he nodded. He could feel his confidence boost from her words alone, and it was then he turned his smile onto his child and shifted his arms in a manner that felt more natural to him.

Mukuro was quick to leave the room so that he could give the others some privacy. He reported back to the group awaiting news, and he was happy to say that Belphegor finally seemed accepting of his children.

After just a few more minutes of waiting, a nurse came out to explain they had taken Mammon to a room and they were welcome to visit her and the babies. They eagerly moved to visit the new additions of the family, and even Xanxus found himself enjoying the company of the others, a welcome change from the loneliness he had felt ever since his breakup with Squalo.

For the first time in his life, Xanxus felt as if he were at peace.


	16. Chapter 16

"Xanxus, I'm hungry."

Xanxus cracked one eye open before he looked to the other side of the office. He found Fran slouched against the desk with a blank gaze fixed on the man. He couldn't say he was happy about his lover having woken him from a nap; he had been having good dreams and he wished he knew how they would have ended. "What do you want _me _to do about it?"

"Feed me. I want a lunch break." Fran stood up from his desk chair and walked over to his lover. He didn't hesitate to drop himself on Xanxus' lap and wrap his arms around the other's neck; he knew the man would welcome the embrace. "Let's take a break, okay?"

Xanxus gave a small nod. He tried to ignore the rising pressure in his pants at Fran's proximity; it wasn't that he wouldn't fuck the teen here and now because he _would, _but he knew his lover wasn't in the mood; there were days when the smaller male found himself remembering what Byakuran had done to him, and today was one of them.

The man didn't say a word as he stood up and started walking towards the office door; he knew Fran would follow him.

The company was quiet today. The countless employees that were usually filling the many cubicles had been cut in half after Xanxus had let most of them go for reasons he hadn't told Fran. Even so, the teen could still see that Lussuria, so outgoing and friendly, was bailing up other employees to chat their ears off. Bel was with him today, and while the blond was looking a little under the weather, he still found something Lussuria was saying funny as he gave his trademark laugh.

Xanxus only had to take one look at his subordinates before he started walking faster. "Hurry the fuck up before they see us."

Fran did as he was told, but their efforts hadn't been enough; Lussuria spotted them and immediately made his way over with Bel behind him.

"Xanxus, are you and Fran taking a lunch break?" Lussuria's smile turned into a smirk before he added on in a suggestive tone, "Or are you maybe going elsewhere?"

"Shut the fuck up, trash; I'll fuck him wherever I want." Xanxus's glare was challenging, and Lussuria knew to back down; no one sane would go up against the man because they would never come out of it alive.

"Ushishishi~" Bel covered his mouth with the back of his hand as his obscured eyes wandered over Fran's slim form. He licked his lips before he said, "I remember when I got to fuck the little froggy~ When Mammy said I could have sex with a male, I really wanted for Squ or Xanxus to fuck me but I knew I couldn't ask because they were together~ In hindsight, I could have had a threesome had I asked~"

Xanxus growled. His hand shot out and grabbed the front of Bel's shirt in order to pull him closer. He hissed in a deadly tone, "Like I would ever touch your trash ass."

"Shishi~ Doesn't stop the prince from fantasising~"

"Disgusting…" Xanxus shoved the younger into Lussuria before he growled, "I should kick the shit out of you here and now, foul trash."

Belphegor's smile widened. "But Xanxus, I have a family~ You wouldn't hit someone with kids now, would you~?"

Bel was right, and they both knew it; Xanxus wasn't about to bash someone who had a family waiting at home. Instead, Xanxus turned to glare at Lussuria. "Get him away from me, faggot trash."

Lussuria knew that Xanxus wasn't messing around, and that if Bel continued to agitate him, the man _would _snap. He grabbed the younger's hand and tugged the blond away from their boss before saying, "Come on, hon; let's go finish our project together~"

Fran and Xanxus watched the two leave before the teal-haired male looked up at his lover. "You didn't hit him."

Xanxus shrugged. "He was trying to get a reaction. I wasn't going to give him what he wanted."

Fran nodded. He was glad Xanxus had been able to control himself because he didn't want to see his lover attack someone he was so close to. "Ignore him; he's attention-seeking again."

"Would have punched his fucking face in if he didn't have kids…" Xanxus shook his head to try and clear his thoughts; it wouldn't do to get himself riled up. "Fuck it. We're getting food."

Fran was all too happy to follow behind Xanxus. He stuck close to the man's side as they walked through the company building because despite so many people having lost their jobs, it was still extremely crowded and Fran didn't like being jostled.

"Xanxus, can we go to the restaurant down the road?" Fran looked up as his awaited the reply. A faint smile crossed his face as Xanxus nodded; he liked when they went to have lunch at the restaurant because it was usually quiet through the day and so they could spend time by themselves without the stress of running a company. "I want ravioli again."

Xanxus hummed in response. He tended to be rather quiet when they were in public together, but once they were alone, he was capable of holding conversations with Fran. The teen could respect this; he knew he was lucky to have the relationship he did with Xanxus so he would never ask for more.

Fran didn't say anything more until they had finally left the building and entered the staff car park behind it. He followed Xanxus to the man's Mercedes, but before he could get close to the passenger seat, the car keys were thrown at him. "Xanxus?"

Xanxus shrugged. "You can drive."

If Fran hadn't mastered his emotionless face, he would have frowned; he didn't like driving very much, and though he knew it was something he would need to be able to do, he still preferred to be the passenger. "Why?"

"Because you're going to need to learn to drive for when you need to 'cart my sorry, drunken ass back home', as Squalo always put it." Xanxus rolled his eyes. He opened the passenger side door and sat down as Fran did the same at the driver's side. "Just don't crash my fucking car."

"I think the chances of that happening are high, Xanxus…" Fran started the car and then pulled the handbrake down. He depressed the clutch before pulling the gearstick into reverse, and though he tried his hardest to bring the car out slowly, he couldn't help but shoot backwards and slam into the car parked across from them. The car stalled as Fran took his foot off the clutch and looked at Xanxus with a face as blank as ever. "Oops."

It took Xanxus several minutes to respond as he was trying his hardest not to explode at Fran; he knew it was partially his fault for letting a learner with very little experience behind the wheel of an extremely powerful car, but really. How the fuck could _anyone _not reverse a car out of a park?

"Drive forward so I can see how badly you've smashed the back of my car. Be caref – too late…" Xanxus palmed at his face as the car shot forward now and Fran had only just stopped it before it hit another car. He reached out and ripped the handbrake up before he opened the door and got out to access the damage. Thankfully, it wasn't too much damage; just some panel damage and a crack in the back windshield that could easily be repaired. Now the _other _car…

"What are you laughing at?" Fran was surprised when Xanxus got back into the car with laughter floating through the air. "I just messed up your insurance and two cars."

Xanxus shook his head. "My car will be repaired and I don't care about the insurance. You just put my tow ball through Lussuria's radiator, though. The whole front of his piece of shit Audi is smashed in. I'm not mad now; that faggot trash had it coming for screwing up on his last job. Keep driving, but don't wreck my car any more or I'll make _you _pay for repairs."

Fran nodded. He did his best to get out of the car park, and several stalls and bunny hops later, he finally made it out onto the road. He didn't have too much trouble now that he was on the open road, and he managed to make it into the restaurant car park safely. However, as hard as he had tried, he hadn't been able to get into the parking space without side swiping the car beside them.

"I have a feeling it's better if I _don't _drive – for _everyone_." Now that he had reversed back out and came into the parking space on a wider angle, Fran finally managed to park successfully. He pulled the handbrake up and put the car into neutral before he turned it off and got to look at what damage he had caused this time.

"No; you drive fine on the road. It's congested parking lots you're failing at." Xanxus didn't care much for the damage to the other car, but he still left his details on a piece of paper; he wouldn't appreciate for cops to show up to his home and accuse him of a hit and run, after all. "You need more practise in them. You're doing better than that prince trash did; he had his learning permit taken off him and got a huge fine and community service after he stole Squalo's car and caused a huge crash."

Fran wasn't surprised to hear this; he had always heard that Bel had been a bit of a delinquent when he was younger. At least now he understood why Squalo had always yelled at the blond whenever Bel requested to drive; the man had refused to teach him how to drive until he was twenty-one and had banned anyone else from letting him behind the wheel of their car, too. "How?"

Xanxus shrugged. "Was hanging around the wrong crowd and got himself into drugs. Only reason we found out was because he got two people killed that night. He hadn't been into the shit for too long, so it wasn't as hard for Squalo to get him off it – wasn't so badly addicted or dependent on it yet."

Fran was glad that, despite how badly he felt he drove, at least he hadn't caused a crash or killed anyone yet. He hadn't known that Bel had been on drugs before so he figured that must have been before Squalo had found him in the snow. He didn't judge the blond; Bel had been clean ever since Fran had known him, and there must have been a reason for the older male to have dabbled in things like that – it wasn't his place to ask or point fingers about things he didn't understand.

By now, the two had stepped into the restaurant and their conversation had been cut short as they were approached by a waitress. "Table for two?"

Xanxus nodded. "Somewhere with privacy."

"Of course."

Fran was relaxed as he followed his boyfriend into the back of the restaurant; Xanxus had always liked being seated away from other people. Once they had been seated and the waitress had taken their orders, the teen looked at Xanxus before he asked, "What did you and Squalo do for dates?"

Xanxus fell silent at this question. He could remember that there had been a time in their relationship where they had always been out on dates, but how long ago had that been? He couldn't remember having such consistent dates once they had graduated school; they had just… steadily grown apart until all that was left was… bitterness. "…"

Fran didn't mind the silence; he instead said, "I was just thinking that maybe we could go on some dates, too. I don't really know much about dating, so that's why I asked about Squalo."

Xanxus shrugged. He didn't care anymore; he and Squalo had both moved on and now the long-haired man was sleeping with that clumsy blond who had come so close to taking Squalo from him from the very beginning. "We can go on dates. Nothing shitty like walks on the beach, though; fuck that bullshit."

Fran reached out so that he could ghost his fingertips across the back of Xanxus' hand. He felt himself relaxing when a much larger hand closed around his; he didn't think he would be able to explain it or, if he could, if Xanxus would ever understand, but he loved this man. He could remember always trying so hard to get his lover's approval and notice, and he had never liked it when Xanxus ignored him – but now, he was just glad he had been so persistent.

"Maybe we could go see a movie or something instead." Fran didn't realise how quiet his voice was, or how easily it was cracking in this moment; all he could notice was how quickly his heart was starting to beat as he stared into red orbs that were usually so fierce but instead had softened only for him.

"At home. Not around other shitty trash. You go get some rental movies and bring them home."

Fran wasn't even upset that Xanxus didn't want to take him out on a proper date; all he cared about was the fact that the other genuinely wanted to spend some time with him – all he had wanted for so long.

_**~~XX~~**_

Fran loved how laidback Xanxus was towards him. Sure, he felt bad that Squalo hadn't been able to be with his own lover like this for so long, but at least now his guardian was happy in his new relationship and was finally getting love and care the way he deserved. Sometimes when Fran looked back on it, he wondered if he had done the right thing by getting Squalo away from Xanxus – if he had been supposed to break them up in the first place. Everyone knew nothing good would have come out of them continuing to stay together.

"Xanxus, are you getting tired?" Fran noticed the way his lover's eyelids were drooping. He glanced towards the clock on the other side of the living room and could see that it was indeed getting late; almost one o'clock in the morning.

"Nah, I'm fine." Xanxus shifted slightly so that he could make himself more comfortable on the couch. He didn't mind how Fran was laying across the couch and resting his head on the man's lap; it was comforting to them both. "This movie is just shit."

Fran hummed in agreement. "Let's watch something else." He went to stand up to put on a different DVD, but he stopped as he was tugged back into Xanxus' arms and hot lips were suddenly crushing against his own. He moaned into the kiss as he felt calloused fingers sliding up beneath his shirt, and he responded by lifting his arms and wrapping them around Xanxus' neck. He moaned again as he felt the other begin to grind against him, but before anything could go any further, his phone rang from his pocket.

Xanxus broke away and glared at the offending piece of trash technology before he moodily muttered, "Answer it…"

Fran did as he was told. He clicked the answer button and raised the phone to his ear before saying, "Hello?"

"Fran, is Bel there with you?"

Fran blinked at this question. He pushed the phone away to see who was calling, and he was surprised to see Mammon's name on his screen. Speaking back into the phone, he said, "No. Why would he be?"

"Because he hasn't been home all day and he won't answer his phone." There was stress in Mammon's voice, but Fran couldn't blame her; she had twins to care for and her boyfriend seemed to be missing. "He was supposed to get baby formula after he finished work and come straight home, but I haven't heard from him since he said he was leaving work."

"When did he finish?" Fran was worried. He knew it wasn't like Bel to disappear like this, and he couldn't help but feel something had happened to him; there was no other explanation for this behaviour because Bel didn't just fall off the face of the earth.

"Four. That's nine hours he's been gone, Fran. And I can't look after these kids without him."

Fran wasn't stupid; he could tell that Mammon was almost close to tears. He knew she was finding parenthood stressful at times and was very reliant on Bel to help her through it; to think that something had happened to him must be very hard for her. "Have you asked Squalo or Master if he is with them?"

"I have, and neither of them know where he is. Bel wouldn't go anywhere else, Fran; he should have come straight home, and I don't know where he is or who he's with."

Fran winced as he could hear one of the babies begin to wail in the background. He felt bad for Mammon; it wasn't fair for her to have to deal with two of them on her own. He turned to Xanxus and said, "Is it okay if I go to Mammon's? Bel-senpai is missing and she needs help with her babies."

Xanxus hid the irritation and disappointment he felt at Fran for wanting to end what they were both enjoying; he didn't want to ruin what had otherwise been a great night. Instead, he stood up and stomped away to get his car keys without a word.

Fran turned his attention back to Mammon. "I'm gonna come over and help you with the babies."

Mammon was grateful; she didn't like to admit it, but she was suffering from post-natal depression, and on top of Bel not being there… "Thank you, Fran. I'm going to call the police; his medication is still here and he would have missed his doses."

That was another reason for Fran to be concerned; Bel had medication to try and manage his ADHD and anxiety as well as a few physical disorders, and his body was so dependent on the medication that if he were to miss his morning dose as well, he was going to get sick – why Bel would just drop everything like this... Something wasn't right.

"I'll be there soon, Mammon." Fran waited until the woman said goodbye before he ended the call. He stood up to quickly get ready, and within five minutes, he and Xanxus were leaving the house to go and help Mammon. Fran was worried; deep inside, he knew that something terrible had happened to his friend.

_**~~XX~~**_

Xanxus wasn't concerned about Belphegor, no one had to ask that to already know. The only reason he was sitting on Mammon's couch next to Fran was because the teen had to get home somehow, and he wasn't about to let the younger walk the streets alone. He didn't mind the baby Fran had talked him into holding, though; he would never tell anyone, but he somewhat liked the two twins – when they were quiet, that was.

Fran was nursing the other baby on his lap as he fed it a warm bottle. He knew Mammon was exhausted so he had volunteered Xanxus and himself to get the twins back to sleep to try and help her out a little.

"What did the police say?" Fran dropped his head against Xanxus' shoulder as he became more tired by the minute, but he had to be here for Mammon – he _had _to.

"They're looking for him." Mammon dropped her gaze to her lap as she tried to work out what she was supposed to do now; Bel had her car, and if she needed to take her babies anywhere or buy more supplies for them, she was going to have trouble. "Squalo and Mukuro have been out to look, too, but they can't find him anywhere."

Fran didn't know what to think. He was worried the blond might have pissed off someone he shouldn't have – it had happened before because Bel could never keep his mouth shut, and everyone knew it wouldn't be the last time he got on someone's bad side. "…"

When at last the baby in his arms had fallen asleep, Xanxus stood up to give the boy back to his mother. "That's one down. Hurry up with the other brat so we can leave."

Fran nodded; he knew he was asking a lot of Xanxus to be here with him, so as soon as the baby in his arms was asleep, he gave Mammon back her second child. "Xanxus and I have to go home, but I'll let you know if I hear from senpai."

Mammon nodded. Fran couldn't help but think that she looked absolutely devastated. He could only imagine what she was going through, and he was honestly glad it wasn't him left to wonder if Xanxus was okay or not.

After they got in the car, Xanxus fixed Fran with a firm look. He was sincere as he asked, "Why do you care so much for that trash? He's probably dead or close to it."

"Don't say that!" Never before had Fran snapped at someone, but here he was, for the first time in his life directing his anger out on someone. "He's _not _dead! He's my friend and I care about him!"

Xanxus fell silent. He knew he didn't understand what Fran and Mammon were going through because he truly didn't care about whether Belphegor was alive or not – the blond could be lying dead in a ditch somewhere for all he cared.

But Fran… Xanxus knew that if something had happened to the blond piece of trash, Fran would be very upset. If only for Fran's sake, Xanxus hoped the other was okay.


	17. Chapter 17

It had been close to a week since Bel had gone missing, and Xanxus knew Fran was becoming more stressed at the fact that no one seemed to know what had happened to him; Mammon's car had been found out of town, gutted and burnt to a crisp, but there had been no sign of Bel anywhere nearby. Xanxus wasn't stupid, and he knew Fran wasn't either; if Bel ever _was _found, he would probably be dead by now.

That was why, when Xanxus' phone rang and the screen showed Squalo as the caller, the man almost refused to answer it; he didn't give a shit about the situation, so what was the point in ringing him to let him know what was happening? Then again, Fran would want to know everything…

Xanxus picked his phone up from the bed he was lazing on and answered the call. He grunted in greeting to show his annoyance at Squalo's call, but he listened to his ex when the long-haired man started to talk. To his surprise, the younger sounded as if he were crying.

"Xanxus… Is Fran at school?" Xanxus didn't think he had ever heard Squalo sound so weak before.

"Yes. Why are you crying?" Xanxus couldn't help but growl these words. It wasn't that he was mad, but he was still trying to get used to people showing emotion around him. "Did that clumsy trash hurt you?"

"No… I…" If Xanxus had been unsure of whether or not Squalo had been crying, he now knew for sure; there were a few sobs on the other end of the line before the smaller man whimpered out, "T-they found Bel…"

"…"

"He's… He's not doing too good…" Squalo mumbled something to someone else before he turned back to Xanxus. "B-bring Fran to the hospital when he's home…"

Xanxus grunted. "Yeah. Will do." With that said, he ended the call.

Tossing the phone back onto the mattress, Xanxus folded his arms behind his head. He wasn't too fussed; he would sleep as he waited for Fran to come home.

_**~~XX~~**_

When Xanxus woke up, it was to Fran climbing onto the bed next to him. He rolled over and pulled the younger against him as he fully intended on going back to sleep now that he had his lover next to him; what a perfect way to spend his lazy afternoon.

"Xanxus..."

The addressed man cracked an eyelid open to look at Fran once he heard the smaller male's sad tone. "What is it?"

Fran shrugged. "I don't know... I just... feel really down... I guess I've been feeling a little unhappy lately..."

"Because of that prince trash?" Xanxus reached out and ran his fingers through teal hair.

"Sort of... But school is making me feel depressed; there's so much work and I don't have enough time to get it all done... I'm starting to fall behind and I can't catch up again."

Xanxus gripped thin hips before he rolled over onto his back and pulled Fran to lay on his chest. He kissed his lover as he continued to pat the younger's head. "Fuck that shit; I'll help you do it. Don't worry about it for now; Squalo told me I have to take you to the hospital."

"What? Why?" Fran was confused by these words, but he then realized what Xanxus was implying; why hadn't he clicked on straight away? "Bel-senpai?"

Xanxus nodded. He had no intention of getting up any time soon because he was so content to stay here with Fran. However, the teen didn't seem to share in Xanxus' wishes as the younger immediately started trying to free himself from the man's arms.

"What are we still laying around for?!" Fran sighed as he felt Xanxus' arms only hold him tighter. "Senpai's hurt if he's in hospital!"

"We'll go soon. Let's just stay here a little longer."

"Xanxus, no! I want to see senpai!"

Xanxus growled, but he gave up on arguing; Fran clearly liked that blond piece of shit more. Without a word, he sat up and left the bed. When he looked back to see Fran still sitting on the bed, he hissed, "Hurry the fuck up, then."

Fran followed behind, unable to wait; he needed so badly to know that Bel was going to be okay.

~~XX~~

"Did Squalo say what happened to him?" Fran was feeling restless as he sat in the passenger seat of Xanxus' car. He knew they weren't far from the hospital now, and that Xanxus was already speeding ridiculously fast as he always did, but he still wished his lover could go faster; he had never felt so impatient to get somewhere before.

Xanxus shrugged. "No. He was crying, though."

Fran felt as if he could throw up; what could have happened bad enough to make _Squalo _cry? "Xanxus…"

Xanxus grunted in response. He hated to hear the anxiety that was making the younger's voice quiver. "What?"

"What do you think happened…?" The teal-haired male knew deep down what had happened, but he didn't want to acknowledge it; he didn't want to think that someone could have hurt Bel.

"He pissed off the wrong person. Simple as that." Xanxus didn't need evidence to come to this conclusion; he had known the blond trash for eighteen years and had experienced first-hand how Bel seemed to have a death wish when it came to causing trouble. "He finally got what was coming to him."

Xanxus and Fran were on the same wave-length, the younger could see; there couldn't be any other explanation because Fran couldn't see a random attack being launched on Bel – not one that he couldn't defend himself against; despite the blond's skinny build and deceivingly-docile nature at times, he knew how to fight when he wanted to. If someone were to get their hands on Bel, they would have to have plotted for a long time to be able to corner him and bring him down.

"Who do you think did it?"

"I don't fuckin' know; do you really expect for me to keep tabs on the trash and know what trouble he causes on a daily basis?"

Fran knew the man was right; Bel got up to a lot of things when Mammon wasn't supervising him, so there'd be no telling who he had pissed off. He fell silent now, noticing that they were just around the corner from the hospital. He started fidgeting as Xanxus pulled into the hospital car park just a few minutes later and, once the Mercedes had been parked, jumped out of the car before Xanxus had even turned it off.

"Xanxus, come on." Fran walked quickly once his lover had come to his side. He didn't hesitate to enter the building and ask reception where Bel's room was, and once he got the answer, he tugged Xanxus to the elevator and up to the third floor. When they entered Bel's hospital room, the teen couldn't stop himself from running to the hospital bed to see Bel. However, his actions only earned himself a flinch from the blond.

"Senpai..." Fran's eyes softened as he looked at Bel. When he didn't receive a response, he reached out to brush dirty golden locks out of his friend's face. Bel whimpered loudly and scooted away, almost as if he were terrified of the younger touching him.

"It's okay, Bel." Mammon, who was sitting closest to the bed as she nursed the twins, reached out to hold her boyfriend's hand. "It's okay."

Bel's hand in hers was sweaty, and it only seemed to tremble more now that she was holding it. She remembered the nurses telling her what they had found, and it broke her heart; why did the blond have to go through so much pain?

Mammon let go of Bel's hand so that she could stand up and carry the babies over to the bed. She sat down on the edge of the mattress in order to pass one of the boys to their father in hopes it would help calm the younger; Bel _did _love his children, after all.

"Here you go, Bel. Have a nurse." To Mammon's relief, Bel didn't shy away from the younger twin. She had given him the second-born on purpose because she knew that her lover couldn't help but feel a tad more attached since he also was the younger twin.

Bel allowed the baby to be laid on his chest. He raised a shaking arm that was full of IVs and hugged his kid carefully. He moved his face towards the younger so that he could nuzzle his own cheek against the smaller one and then moved his hand to wrap his slender digits around a tiny hand.

"Cappi…" Bel's mumble was so quiet, Fran and Mammon almost missed it. They almost wished they hadn't heard it; they hated to hear him sound so sad and frightened. "Cappi, it's okay… It's okay… Daddy's here…"

While hearing the blond muttering to his child like this made Fran uncomfortable, it was Mammon who knew what the younger was doing, and it wasn't good at all; Bel was so desperately trying to shift his distress onto his child and soothe the baby's non-existent pain in the same way he had heard his own father give to his brother but never once to him. Bel didn't understand what it was like to have comfort from his parents; he had heard it all the time, but all he had ever gotten was neglect and abuse – it was natural for him to try and get what he had so desperately wanted from his parents but never received by giving it to his child instead.

"Bel, Cappi is fine." Mammon didn't make any move to touch the other; she had already worked out that Bel didn't want physical contact. She spoke in a soft voice, hoping to make her lover understand that what he was doing right now was _not _healthy, and it honestly frightened her to think that Bel had finally lost it. "He's okay; there's no need to try and comfort him like this."

"Yes, there is, Mammon; he's scared!" Never before had Bel been defensive against Mammon, but here he was, snapping at the woman.

"Bel…" Looking down at the older twin she had named Renzo, Mammon wished she knew what to do. Bel's state of mind had always been fragile, but now it looked as if what little sanity he had left was finally broken.

It was now Fran noticed that Squalo and Dino were absent, and he could understand why; the long-haired man must not have been able to stay; how devastating it must be to see the young man he had adopted and loved as his own in this state... The teen knew he was being selfish, but he, too, couldn't bear this; turning back to Xanxus, he shook his head and gestured towards the door.

"You're leaving?" Mammon felt a little angry herself; it felt as if everyone was instantly giving up on the blond and that they didn't care – if she could still remain by his side, why couldn't Fran? Why couldn't _Squalo? _

Fran nodded. "I wasn't prepared for this. I don't know how to handle it."

Mammon she knew she was being unfair right now towards Fran; he was just a kid! It wasn't right to expect him to stay and deal with something so confronting, but… But even so, why did she have to deal with this on her own? She had a hard enough time with him as it was, and she was scared she wouldn't be able to take care of him like this – not with twins, too…

"I'll walk with you." Mammon adjusted her hold on Renzo and then stood up before she sent one last look to Bel. She hated to see the way he was now crying silent tears, and she could only wish she had dropped him off at work that day like she always did – but Bel just _had _to be stubborn and wanted to have a drive because he was "a prisoner of the passenger seat".

The woman didn't speak until she had walked with Fran and Xanxus far out of earshot of Bel's room. She stopped them before they got any further, knowing Fran needed to know what the nurses had said.

"They found him in a ditch by the side of the road. He was raped." Mammon felt sick as she relayed the information. She hesitated before continuing on, speaking far quieter than usual. "Many times. His knee and shoulder were dislocated and his right arm is broken. He had stab wounds all over him. They think it had been happening the whole time since he's been missing. …They said… They said they were worried about emotional and mental damage, and… Now I understand why…"

Xanxus didn't speak; he watched Fran carefully before he reached out to take his lover's hand. Fran squeezed it before he asked, "Do they know who did it?"

"Not yet, and Bel won't talk to us about it. He doesn't want to talk at all; he just wants to lay in bed and sleep."

"He must have been through a lot…" Fran wished he could be a better friend and help Bel, but he felt he would only make things worse in this situation; while he, too, knew what it was like to be raped, from what he was hearing, it had been done to his friend more than once – and if the young man was acting like this, it had certainly effected Bel a _lot _more than Fran ever had been.

Mammon shook her head. She didn't want to think about what Bel was going through. "I can only do so much for him…"

"What about Squalo?"

"Squalo… is taking it very hard…" Mammon sighed. "He's blaming himself for it. I don't know why, but he is."

Xanxus was quickly growing agitated. He didn't like being around this kind of conversation because it was making him uncomfortable. He didn't mean any harm when he grabbed Fran's wrist and started pulling his lover towards the exit; he simply lacked the capability of knowing how to explain to Fran that he wanted to go.

It wasn't until they got back into Xanxus' car did the man speak again. He could see how depressed Fran was looking, and he knew then and there that the younger needed time out.

"Let's go to Japan." Xanxus didn't look at the incredulous expression on Fran's face; he focused on starting the car and reversing it out of the park.

"What? Why?" Fran didn't understand why that had come out of the blue; why the_ hell _would Xanxus randomly decide to take him to another country? The man would hardly get out of bed as it was! "I have school I'm already behind in and everything. I can't –"

"- That shit doesn't matter; you can drop out now for all I care." Xanxus checked to see if it was safe for him to pull out on the road, and once he found there was no other approaching traffic, he slammed his foot down on the accelerator before jamming the gearstick into second. "You have a job with me; you don't need education for that."

"That's not the point…" Fran sighed. He didn't want to continue this conversation right now. "I just… Why Japan…?"

"Italy's doing you no favours, is it? And your school holidays start in two weeks; I don't care what you say; we're going to Japan."

Fran lowered his head. He knew that Xanxus only meant well, but he wasn't sure he suddenly wanted to jump countries; what if Bel needed him back here? "But… Bel-senpai…"

"He'll be fine. I'll get plane tickets when we get home."

Fran sighed. Xanxus wasn't going to listen, so he may as well go with the man. Who knows; maybe a break _was _what he needed, anyway.


	18. Chapter 18

"How are you feeling, senpai? Any better?" Ever since Mammon had brought Bel home from the hospital, Fran had been coming around to see him. Bel hadn't been leaving his bed, and he hardly said a word these days; he just lay on his side curled up beneath his blankets with his back to his visitors.

"…" Bel ignored Fran as he lay staring out of the window into the stormy skies above. He had been ignoring everyone who entered his room, really; he couldn't find the strength to talk to them and just wanted to lay in peace.

Fran knew better than to touch Bel now; the last time he had tried to pat his friend's shoulder, the blond had grabbed his wrist and almost broke it. It worried him to see the older male like this, but he wasn't the type to abandon his friends. "Xanxus and I are going to Japan today. He said I could come and say goodbye to you before we leave for the airport."

"…" Not even a twitch of acknowledgement towards the younger.

"You like Japan, don't you, senpai? Xanxus said we're going to go stay with your friends." Fran wished Bel would say something, but he knew not to get his hopes up; Bel had been badly traumatised. He didn't quite understand it; the other was so strong, and he had never been able to see Bel as the kind to be like this after being raped – then again, he had never thought about Bel _being _raped before; he had just naturally assumed it would never happen to his friend.

"Fran! Get your ass down here!"

Fran looked towards the doorway as he heard Xanxus call for him. He sighed. "I gotta go, senpai. I'll ring you again soon."

Fran stood up to leave the room, but before he could take a step towards the door, Bel grabbed his wrist and tugged him back. He turned around to look at Bel, and he felt his stomach do uncomfortable flips of anxiety as he saw that the older male was looking at him with a fearful expression. Tears started sliding down pale cheeks, and it was then the teen felt as if he was going to throw up; whoever had done this to Bel would _pay _if Fran ever found out who did it. "Senpai?"

"D-don't leave me…" Bel sniffed back tears before he dropped his head. His shoulders heaved with such heavy emotion and he whimpered once more. "P-please… H-he's still out there…"

Fran turned back around and knelt by the bed again. He took Bel's hand in his and squeezed it tightly; as far as he knew, the blond hadn't said anything about what had happened to Squalo or Mammon, so why was the blond trusting _him_ with this…? "Who's out there, senpai?"

"…" Bel curled into a ball before he let out a loud whimper. He struggled getting the words past the lump in his throat, but he finally managed it. "…M-my… My… My b-b-brother…"

"Your brother did this to you?" Fran couldn't stop himself from whispering; he knew he needed to be as gentle as he could be in this moment. He felt bile climb his throat as he received a small nod in response, unable to understand how someone could do that to their relative; that was just…

"He… He did so much…" Bel wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. "I… I had finally moved on from them… I hadn't… thought about my family… for so long… I was… I was finally… _happy_…"

"Senpai…" Fran knew that Bel didn't want to be touched anymore, but he couldn't stop himself; letting go of his friend's hand, he instead stood up so that he could hug the older male tightly. He shook his head; oh, how he wished he could do something to help…

"Fran! Hurry the fuck up!"

Fran sighed. He let go to Bel and took a few steps back towards the door. "I have to go, senpai. I won't tell anyone what you told me."

"F-froggy…" Bel wanted so badly to beg, to plead for Fran to stay, but he couldn't find the energy; he was just… so tired… "Don't leave… Please…"

Fran, who had been hurrying to get to Xanxus' side, didn't hear Bel's whispered plea; all he heard was that just before he closed the door, the other started to cry again.

The teen tried his best to not let that get to him; he needed to focus on Japan now because if he were to overthink about Bel, it would only depress him; there wasn't anything he could do for his friend while he was overseas so it was better for him to try not to think about it.

"About fucking time you got your ass downstairs." Xanxus was seated on Mammon's couch. His legs were crossed as he folded his arms against his chest and fixed his lover with a glare. "Are you trying to miss the flight or something?"

Fran shook his head. He didn't say anything as Xanxus stood up and headed towards the front door; he just waved goodbye to Mammon before he followed the man out of the house and to the Mercedes. He felt terrible about leaving Bel like this, but what good would he do by staying behind? He had no idea how he was supposed to help, and the more he thought about it, the more he realised he _did _need a holiday; he'd run himself into the ground trying to take care of Bel like this.

Fran was just thankful that Xanxus was looking out for him.

_**~~XX~~**_

When they had finally arrived in Japan, Xanxus lead Fran down to get their bags and then immediately outside and towards the pick-up zone. The teen didn't question Xanxus as to why the man seemed to be heading straight for a black Lexus parked further down the bays; he trusted his lover to know what he was doing.

"Is that your friend?" Fran looked up at Xanxus as he heard the other scoff.

"That piece of trash isn't my friend. Don't insult me like that." Xanxus rolled his eyes.

"But… We're staying with them, aren't we?" The younger was confused and didn't understand how that worked; why would Xanxus organize a trip like this that involved staying with someone he apparently wasn't all that close to in the first place?

"Yes. Doesn't mean I have to like them, though."

"How do you know them?" Fran was honestly curious about this; he couldn't see Xanxus having met them willingly with the way he was acting.

"My company branches off theirs. I have no choice _but _to know them."

"Is that how Bel-senpai knows them?"

The man nodded. "He was learning at the same time those trash were so Squalo gave him projects with them."

Fran nodded. He could see now that a brunet was leaving the car and approaching them with a bright smile on his face. The other looked to be around the same age as Bel, and while he seemed to radiate kindness, Fran could see how wary the brunet was of Xanxus – then again, anyone in their right mind would be uncomfortable around the scarred male.

"Xanxus, long time no see." The brunet was careful to keep his distance from the older male, but he did approach Fran with ease. His smile widened as he regarded the smaller male with kind eyes. "You must be Fran. We've heard a lot about you from Belphegor."

"Senpai talks about me?" Fran sighed dramatically. "Don't listen to anything he says about me; I'm really not a stupid frog as much as he is convinced I am. I'm not an amphibian; I promise."

The brunet laughed. "One of my friends corrected him and told him that frogs aren't reptiles and that they're amphibians and Belphegor refused to listen. He said he refused to listen to my friend because my friend was lying to him to try and make him look dumb."

Fran snorted; he wasn't surprised in the least by these words. "Senpai's an idiot sometimes."

"I agree, but don't tell him I said that." The brunet then bowed before saying, "My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Oh, so you're the one Xanxus and Bel-senpai terrorised." Fran could remember Squalo telling him about a group of Japanese teenagers who Xanxus and Bel got kicks out of intimidating. He was sure Squalo also had enjoyed frightening them on occasion, but he was tame compared to what the other two did. "Squalo said it was funny when Bel-senpai put a giant fake spider in your desk drawer and that when you opened it, you screamed like a little girl."

Tsuna blushed as he scratched at his cheek; he remembered all too well of the nerve-wracking pranks Bel had played on him, and Xanxus… Xanxus had just been plain terrifying. "Yeah… But Bel's new favourite victim is Gokudera-kun so he doesn't bother me as much anymore."

Fran wondered how much Tsuna knew about the happenings in Italy with the way he was talking so casually about Bel. He wondered if the other knew what had happened to the blond, or if he knew Xanxus and Squalo had broken up and Fran and Xanxus were now together. He wondered just how in the loop the Japanese male was, and how close he was to Fran's family. There were a lot of questions Fran had for the brunet, but he didn't want to ask them with Xanxus around; he wanted to know the point of view of someone from the outside and ask what they thought of Xanxus and Squalo and especially their old relationship; there were those times that would sneak up on Fran and make him feel bad for stealing Xanxus from the long-haired man.

"Can we stop jabbering and get in the fucking car already?" Xanxus stomped impatiently towards the Lexus. He yanked the door open and got into the passenger seat, and once Fran and Tsuna had joined him inside, the ride was quiet; they knew all too well how the man liked peace in these moments.

_**~~XX~~**_

Fran was astounded to find that Tsuna lived in a giant mansion. He had automatically assumed the other would live somewhere quaint as he seemed like the meek, reserved type – to think that _this _was where Xanxus and Fran were going to stay actually made the trip a little more appealing to the teen; at least they wouldn't be staying in some dump.

"Are you sure this is your home or are you showing us a random mansion to try and impress us and compensate for your dick and your dilapidated shack?" Fran locked gazes with Tsuna, and he couldn't help but feel victorious when the other cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Yes, I am sure this is where I live; I'm pretty sure I'd know what home is mine, Fran." Tsuna was a little quieter, almost as if he were embarrassed. Fran figured he didn't want to say anything that would make Xanxus retaliate, especially since they were sitting so close.

Fran stared outside as Tsuna drove up the slanting driveway. When they got close enough to the garage, he found that it was open and there were several other cars parked inside. Now that he was thinking about it, Tsuna probably shared his home with other people because he couldn't see just one person living in that huge mansion.

"How many people do you live with?" Fran looked to Tsuna as he waited for the answer.

"Not that many. Don't worry; there's plenty of room there for everyone."

None of them spoke again until Tsuna had parked his Lexus in the garage. Fran waited for Xanxus to get out of the car first before he exited as well; he was actually feeling rather uncomfortable all of a sudden.

Xanxus didn't say anything as he grabbed his bags from the back of the car; he wasn't in the mood for talking and would much rather just hurry up and get to his room so he could lay down with Fran.

"Do you want to go straight to your rooms?" Tsuna was confused when Xanxus suddenly shot him a filthy glare; what had he said wrong?

"We only need one room, trash," Xanxus growled. Fran had a feeling they Tsuna really didn't know that he and Xanxus were together now.

Tsuna understood, and he apologised profusely before he lead them up the winding staircase and to the fourth floor. Fran was silent and Xanxus grunted at the younger when they were shown their bedroom, and neither hesitated to step in and drop their bags to the floor.

"This is a nice place." Fran looked around to see that the guest bedroom was well-furnished, and that the wall window across from them had the curtains drawn so that sunlight could fill the room. "How'd they get a mansion like this, anyway?"

Xanxus looked over his shoulder at this question. "You're well aware of how much money these companies make."

Fran nodded. He remembered how generous his first pay check had been considering he had only done a couple of hours over the weekend – to work full-time… No wonder he had never known Xanxus or Squalo to have financial troubles.

Fran joined Xanxus over on the bed after a few minutes. He was happy with his new surroundings, but he wasn't sure he would be comfortable to leave the room without Xanxus; he didn't know these people, and though Tsuna seemed rather nice, there were still others hanging around he didn't know about – the last thing he wanted was to be cornered and interrogated by a stranger.

Xanxus grabbed Fran's hips and lifted the teen so that the younger was straddling his waist. He then lifted a hand and tugged at teal locks to drag Fran's face closer to his; he hadn't been able to get much contact with his lover during the trip, and he planned on making up for it right now.

Fran sighed as he felt something beneath him grow hard. It wasn't that he didn't want to have sex because he _did, _but he was tired; it was rare for him to travel overseas and he found himself feeling rather jetlagged.

"Can we do it later?" Fran buried his face against Xanxus' throat as he felt strong arms warp around him and hold him close. "I'm really tired."

Xanxus nodded. Horny he was, but a rapist he was _not. _"Let's sleep, then."

Fran loved being held in the man's protective hold; it made him feel as if nothing in the world would hurt him as long as he had Xanxus there to hold him. Despite feeling a little disconcerted from his new surroundings, he was able to drift off to sleep easily with his lover so close by.

Xanxus felt likewise. He hoped Fran would feel better on their little holiday because he didn't like seeing the other having a hard time. It was true he was feeling rather jealous over all the time Fran was spending with Belphegor and that he wanted the younger's attention for himself, but at the same time, he knew he had to do something to make the teen feel better. He was very inept when it came to those things so he didn't know how to do so other than remove his lover from what was bringing him down.

Xanxus hoped it would work because otherwise he didn't know how he could help, as much as he wanted to.


	19. Chapter 19

"Guys, this is Fran."

The addressed male felt very uncomfortable as he stood in the doorway of what looked to be the living room. There were two other people gathered around the spacious area, and for some reason the teen actually felt self-conscious; who knew what they already thought of him because of what Bel could've – and would've - said about him.

But then, the silence was broken by one of them laughing cheerfully.

"You really _do _look like a frog!" Fran could see that the male had spiky dark hair and hazel eyes that displayed nothing but friendliness. He recognised the Japanese man from Bel's Facebook; from what he had seen of the other talking publicly with Bel, this man didn't have a mean bone in his body.

"You're Takeshi." Fran felt slightly calmer when he received a nod in response; at least _one _of them was accepting of him. Looking to the other male next to Takeshi, he came across Bel's favourite 'victim', the silver-haired male Fran was certain was Hayato. "And you're Hayato."

Hayato grunted. He took a drag of the cigarette he was smoking before he said, "You're that freak's sidekick, right?"

Under normal circumstances, Fran would have joined in when it came to bagging Bel out – but not now, not after what his friend had just gone through. Through gritted teeth, he growled, "Senpai _just _got out of hospital…"

The room fell silent at this. The three Japanese males shared looks between them, and Takeshi was the first to speak. "Is he okay? What happened to him?"

"He got raped." Fran noticed that even Hayato, who he had heard had never actually liked Bel, looked disgruntled at the news. "Mammon said he's been traumatised. He won't get out of bed and he's hardly said a word."

"We didn't… We had no idea…" Tsuna clenched his hands as a dark look crossed his face. "Who did it to him?"

Fran felt conflicted all of a sudden; did he break his promise to Bel and tell them? Or did he keep quiet about it like he said he would? He couldn't see the harm in telling these three considering their geographical location and relationship with Bel, but…

He had _promised…_

"…" Scuffing the ground with his boot, Fran looked to his feet. "…His brother…"

There were audible gasps around the room. Fran didn't want to look up and see the expressions they were wearing; he could imagine they felt as horrified and disgusted as he did.

"That's disgusting…" Hayato shook his head. "I can't… His _brother…!"_

"Don't blame Belphegor for what his brother did, Gokudera-kun." Tsuna was quiet. "It's not his fault he has a sick brother."

"Poor Bel…" Takeshi looked as sad as he sounded. He looked between the other three in the room before he sighed. "I can't imagine… His _brother_…"

"This is _not _Belphegor's fault. The important thing is that he has Squalo and Viper there for him; he's not alone during this."

Fran could remember his friend's terror, and talking about this made him feel sick as he replayed Bel's frightened, tear-stained face over and over again in his mind. He fought back nausea before he said, "Can we talk about something else? You didn't… see him…"

The older three were understanding. Takeshi stood up from the couch and moved to Fran's side so he could wrap his arm around the younger. "Hey, he's our friend; of course this hurts us all. But he's being looked after now, so try and enjoy your holiday, okay? Where's Xanxus?"

"Still sleeping." Fran didn't know why he found himself leaning into Takeshi's arms; he hardly knew the other and yet he was finding comfort in the hold. "He won't wake up for a while. I came out to ask Tuna-Fish some questions."

While Hayato made an agitated noise at Fran's new nickname for Tsuna, Takeshi smiled brightly; he liked this kid already.

"What did you want to know, Fran?" Tsuna moved to sit on the couch with his friends. He gestured to the chair across from them as he invited his guest to sit; he would never be so rude as to make someone stand in his presence.

"I wanted to know about Xanxus. I want to know what you think of him. You're an outsider so you can't be biased."

Tsuna and his friends looked at each other. It took several seconds for the brunet to speak, but when he did, he asked, "What about Xanxus?"

Fran didn't miss a beat. "Do you think we're good together? Or should I never have broken Squalo and Xanxus up?"

The trio, who had never been told the reason why Squalo dumped Xanxus, were surprised to hear this; they would never have thought that Fran had something to do with it – they had just naturally assumed that the long-haired man had gotten fed up with the abuse and left.

"Well..." Tsuna scratched the back of his head. "To be honest, I always thought they were bad for each other. I mean, Xanxus treated Squalo so badly... He was borderline abusive to Squalo and Bel, and with each passing year... He actually _did _become abusive... I'm honestly glad that Squalo left him; that was a very toxic environment for him..."

"Should I feel bad for taking Xanxus from him?"

"No. You got him out of a relationship he shouldn't have been in. But Xanxus seems completely different with you; it's almost as if he loves you."

"I don't know if he loves me or not. We've never talked about that."

"Either way, it's clear he's a lot better with you than he was with Squalo. Do you love him, Fran?"

"..." As hard as Fran was thinking about the question, he couldn't come to an answer; he knew he felt strongly for Xanxus, but did he love the man? Fran wasn't sure. "I don't know."

"You don't need to worry so much; these things take time and you'll work it out eventually. There's no rushing emotions."

Fran nodded. "Have you ever loved someone, Tuna-Fish?"

"Of course; my girlfriend."

Fran looked towards the other two who had been sitting so quietly. "What about you two?"

When he received nods in return, Fran was satisfied. He had a few more questions on his mind, but when he heard someone moving around from one of the nearby rooms, he took that as his queue to go back to Xanxus; he had already met enough new people for the moment and he didn't need to meet anyone else.

"I'm going back to Xanxus."

There were farewells from the older three but Fran didn't pay any attention to them; he was feeling too uncomfortable to want to stay any longer with them.

Travelling all the way back upstairs, Fran soon entered his room again. He closed the door as quietly as he could behind him before he tiptoed to the bed and curled up beneath Xanxus' arm once again.

Maybe Tsuna was right; maybe he did love Xanxus. But if that was the case, he needed more time to think about it.


	20. Chapter 20

**For anyone who's interested and especially for the people concerned about the lemons; I made a Tumblr not too long ago to move the lemons across to, since my whole Adultfanfiction idea wasn't working for me. I go to that site once in a blue moon so that made it very hard for me to feel motivated to upload there. However, I do spent a few minutes a day on Tumblr, so you will find not only my lemons there (once they have been re-written, they will be uploaded immediately to be Tumblr), but also things like my head canons and small drabbles and lemons no one from Fanfiction will have seen as they are Tumblr-exclusive. If you're interested, there's a link to the blog in my profile. To see the NSFW content, you will need an account and safe mode deactivated, but it takes two minutes to make an account. This is only a very recent thing so there hasn't been much activity on it yet, but please feel free to submit to me any requests you want me to fulfil over Tumblr and I will do my best for you. I want to be able to interact with my readers a little more because I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read and/or review; you are the people who really make writing feel worth it, and a Tumblr blog feels like an adequate way of doing so since I am not tied down by Fanfiction's plethora of rules. **

"Who does homework on their holidays, Xanxus? Do you think I'm a nerd or something?" Fran stared in disbelief at the textbooks that were spread out across the desk in their room. He didn't even remember packing them so Xanxus must have slipped them in before they had left Italy.

"You said you were falling behind, so you're going to catch up." Xanxus was still sprawled lazily across their bed. He fixed Fran with a hard look, but there was a softness in his eyes he wouldn't show to anyone else. "Do you what you can and I will help you with the rest. It's too late to do anything else so make the most of the night."

Now that Xanxus mentioned it, the clock _was _flashing eleven-thirty; surely there wasn't much else they could do together except relax. "Aren't you going to go to sleep soon?"

The man shrugged. "Depends how quickly you can get through all of that shit." With that said, he grabbed his laptop from the nightstand next to him so that he could watch a movie while he waited.

Fran didn't say anything else as he worked his way through everything. He was finding it at lot easier to focus now that he was in a new environment, and he actually felt rather refreshed and ready to do his homework. The only problem was that he felt _too _refreshed, and he knew he could breeze through it all without so much as asking Xanxus about a single question.

Looking behind him, Fran put on his most pitiful expression before he said, "This is too hard… Come help me?"

Xanxus didn't hesitate to put the laptop down. He stood up to move to the desk, and once Fran shifted to give him room on the chair, he claimed it for himself and pulled the younger onto his lap. He felt much more content with Fran's back to his chest, and with one squeeze to thin hips, he picked up an abandoned pen.

"This shit is fuckin' easy." Writing down the mathematical formula required for the topic at hand, he then went on to explain how to use the formula and acquire the correct answer. Fran didn't need to listen; he already knew what to do, so he instead relaxed with his lover's warmth engulfing him.

Xanxus himself felt oddly content when Fran begun working away at the question after hearing the explanation. He wrapped his arms tight around the teen's stomach and pressed them closer to each other; he could stay like this all night.

"Xanxus, how do I apply it to – oomph…" Fran's question was cut off as Xanxus' lips crushed against his own. He didn't mind; he didn't need the help and had only wanted to hear his lover's voice again. He kissed back eagerly, and when they broke apart, he couldn't help but moan as he felt soft kisses and nibbles peppered along the side of his neck. "X-xanxus…"

The man seemed to be in control of himself as he pulled his face away and tapped at the textbook. "Work."

"How am I supposed to work with you raping me?"

Xanxus smirked. "It's not rape when you _want _it."

Fran allowed a faint smile to cross his face at this. He nodded in complete agreement. "I – What was that?"

Xanxus turned to glare at the bedroom door at the sound of something banging around. He was immediately suspicious; he was no stranger to physical fights and he recognised the sound of a struggle when he heard it.

It was when yelling started did Xanxus push Fran from his lap and stand up. "Someone's fighting."

Fran was at a loss; he didn't know who it could be because he knew for a fact that Tsuna and Takeshi had left the mansion earlier with some of their other housemates, and the only other person in the mansion was Hayato. "What's going on?"

Xanxus didn't reply; he just stomped over to the bedroom door and ripped it open. What he found was surprising; Hayato was on the ground with blood pooling all over his shirt. There was a pained grimace on his face as he tried his hardest to push away from the knife that was teasingly dancing across his throat, and once the blade was pulled away as its wielder turned to see who had disturbed him, he let out a sigh of relief.

"What the fuck? Prince trash?" Xanxus narrowed his eyes at the blond before him as confusion swept over him like a tidal wave; what the fuck was Belphegor doing in Japan after the way they had left him? And attacking business allies, no less!

"Eh? You're talking about Belphegor?"

Fran and Xanxus looked past the two on the ground as a third person made themselves known. The teen flinched at the voice he had come to resent, and Xanxus let out a loud growl.

"I agree; he does like so much like Belphegor, but there's no competition between the two; Siel-kun is _so _much better than that inferior piece of shit in every way."

"Byakuran…" Fran couldn't stop himself from trembling as he noticed the white-haired male step out of the shadows; he remembered all too well what had happened that night, and the truth was that he was _afraid_; was this how Bel felt on a daily basis after what he had been through? If it was, Fran could understand now; it was terrifying to come face-to-face with one's rapist after all.

"Oh? Fran, right?" There was a malicious look in Byakuran's eyes as he looked Fran up and down. His tone was kind, but the teen had learnt not to trust him. It was now he could pick up on the deception laced through those words. "How have you been? Long time no see, right?"

Fran couldn't believe those words. Byakuran was trying to talk to him as if he hadn't raped and beaten him. He couldn't stop himself from tearing up and hiding behind Xanxus; he hadn't realised until now just badly he wanted for his lover. "Xanxus…"

Xanxus took a step forward, but he remained silent; he was analysing the situation carefully because he knew the white-haired male in front of him was also a force to be reckoned with.

"Oh, doesn't he remind you of my dear little brother?" The blond, who had Fran had completely forgotten was with them, spoke in a deep voice that sounded as twisted as he looked in holding a knife to Hayato's throat like he was a hostage. In actually, he probably _was _a hostage. "Look at him shaking like Belphegor did."

Despite Fran's frightened haze, he understood immediately; this was the brother who had hurt his senpai, and the other was _laughing _about it. He felt sick to his stomach, and his tears came harder as he realised just how angry he was growing; how could someone _do _that to such a – dare he say it – sweet man? Sure, Bel had his problems, but when one looked past all the anger and violence, he really _was _just so sweet when he fully trusted someone like he did Mammon and Squalo.

"You were the one… who hurt Bel-senpai…" Fran's voice trembled as much as his body was. He did nothing about the tears that were slipping down his cheeks; all he wanted right now was for that blond to _pay_.

"Shesheshe~! I wasn't the _only _one." The blond jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Byakuran. "I figured I would share my sweet, innocent baby brother with my boss, after all~"

Byakuran's smirk grew wider as he locked gazes with Xanxus. "Aren't you going to say anything, Xanxus? Then again, you always _did _sooner resort to violence than words. Why haven't you attacked us yet? Or has ten years softened you _that _much?"

"Shut up." Xanxus could feel Fran's fingers curling into the back of his jacket. He was able to remain level-headed for Fran's sake; never mind the bleeding Hayato who seemed to be in too much shock to say anything, he wasn't going to let Fran get hurt.

The blond laughed again before he brought the attention onto himself. "You should have seen the fight Bel put up when he realised what was happening. He almost drew attention onto us, so I had to silence him with a stab to the back so Byakuran could get him into the car. We took his car with us and we made him watch as we gutted it and set it on fire. He struggled so much to get away, even when he was already wounded, so I had to keep stabbing him until he stopped resisting~! It was so much fun~!"

"You're sick." Fran didn't notice the fear leaving him as it became overwhelmed by hatred and anger. He spoke again. "You're so fucking sick. He's your _brother_."

"An _inferior _little brother who should never have been allowed to breathe the same air as myself~ I mean, I was always so _perfect, _but Belphegor? Before he ran away, he was pissing his pants when mother and father so much as stepped into our room, and he couldn't even speak without stuttering and crying. Father always had to beat him with the belt before locking him in the closet for weeks on end and always let his friends touch him because of how worthless he was. All he was good for was making a few quick bucks at his expense."

Fran didn't know Bel had been molested as a child, but it _did _answer a lot of questions about why Bel acted the way he did, and especially towards other males; from his understanding, _females _hadn't hurt Bel like males had. He would never had guessed something so cruel had happened to the older male considering how hormonal his friend always was, but then again… Squalo _had _shown him so much love and safety, it was probably natural Bel had been able to heal so well from his scars.

The blond's grin widened as he noticed the distraught look crossing Fran's face. "And you know what the best part of it is? When I showed Bel all the videos father had made of my sweet brother being touched, he showed me that precious side of him that seemed to have disappeared after he ran away."

Something inside of Fran snapped. He pushed past Xanxus and threw himself at the blond, but as angry as he was, he had overlooked the knife. He froze at the sudden pain in his stomach, and when he looked down, he found the blade sticking out past his shirt as blood dripped onto his boots.

That was when all hell broke loose. Fran's consciousness was fading in and out, but from his position on the ground after he had collapsed, he could hear yelling and banging. He tried to blink the haze from his eyes to see what was happening, but all he could make out was three blurred figures dancing violently together. He could feel cold fingers on his cheek, and when he forced his gaze upwards, he found Hayato leaning over him.

That was when the world went black for Fran.

_**~~XX~~**_

It was the sound of repetitive beeping that dragged Fran back into reality. He groaned as he tried to look around, but the world was spinning too fast for him to stomach. He squeezed his eyes shut tight as he tried to remember what had happened, but it was all too much of a blur.

"Fran."

Fran moaned softly as his name broke through the haze. He tilted his head before cracking open an eyelid, and he found Xanxus sitting next to him. "X… Xan…xus…"

Xanxus nodded. He made no move to approach Fran; he just sat in his chair and watched the younger.

Fran felt too sick to talk, so he returned the stare, but after a while his eyelids started to grow heavy. He tried to keep them open, but no matter how hard he tried, they ended up falling shut. However, just before he could fall asleep, he felt a large hand grab his own and hold it firmly.

"Xanxus…" Fran slurred his words as he forced his eyes open to take one last look at the man holding his hand before he fell unconscious once more.

Xanxus didn't say a word; he simply clutched Fran's hand tight before he stood up to move closer to the infirmary bed. Once he was close enough, he leant down to brush away teal bangs so that he could plant a kiss there.

Once that was done, he let go of Fran's hand and stood back up to leave. He was content now that he knew Fran was okay, and it was time for him to go and eat the steak that was probably cold by now. It had been a long time since he had put his steak on hold for someone, but he found he didn't mind right now; he was sure it would taste better than ever with the knowledge that Fran wasn't about to leave him.


	21. Chapter 21

It took a week for Fran to get out of the hospital. He had been stabbed deeply, and it was a miracle the blade had only just missed vital organs. He didn't mind his stay _too _much; it meant that Xanxus stayed by his side and guarded him from any further attacks.

The two hadn't talked much until the day came when Fran was released; they had been content with sitting in each other's company and no words were needed between them. After the nurses had given him all the all clear to leave but take it easy, he had been helped out of the bed by Xanxus and then slowly led into the living room of Tsuna's mansion. The teal-haired made had had no idea he hadn't left Tsuna's home; he had just naturally assumed he had been taken to the hospital.

When the two stepped into the living room, they were greeted by Tsuna and his friends, all of whom looked to be relieved to see Fran in one piece.

"Fran, how are you feeling?" Tsuna stood up from the couch so he could approach Fran. He smiled brightly as he placed a hand on the younger's shoulder; he was just so glad that Fran and Hayato were okay.

"Well, considering I have a gaping hole in my stomach, I feel perfectly fine." Fran rolled his eyes. "What do you think?"

"I'm happy you're still alive." Tsuna pointed behind him at his friends. "Gokudera-kun is going to be okay, too."

Fran ignored these words. He didn't want to know how Hayato was; he wanted to know what had happened that night as Xanxus had yet to tell him how things had gone after he had lost consciousness. "What happened to Byakuran and senpai's brother?"

"Rasiel's dead. Byakuran fled."

Fran was in awe as he looked to his lover; he had expected for a lot of things but not for Xanxus to actually kill someone. He didn't know why he had doubted the other in such a manner; he knew what the man was like, and he honestly should not be as surprised as he was. "You killed him?"

Xanxus showed no remorse as he nodded. "Of course. That fucker stabbed you."

"But what about the cops? What if you go to jail?" Fran couldn't stop his tone from becoming panicked; the idea of losing Xanxus was terrifying.

"We made sure that will not happen," Tsuna soothed. "Xanxus will be safe."

Fran let out a loud sigh of relief. He wrapped his arms around the man tightly, just wanting to be close. And then, without even thinking about it, he said, "I love you, Xanxus..."

Xanxus cleared his throat in uneasiness, but he didn't pill away from Fran; he simply nodded as he rubbed small circles into his lover's back. "..."

It was Takeshi who spoke next. He laughed joyfully before saying, "You worked it out, Fran! You love him!"

Fran nodded. He was sure he had always loved Xanxus, but he hadn't been able to realise it until he saw for himself what the man was willing to do for him; he would never have guessed that Xanxus would go so far as to kill someone, and though he knew that information should scare him, it instead made him feel more comfortable and secure, as if no one could ever hurt him again when Xanxus was with him.

"Do you love him, too, Xanxus?" Takeshi knew he was crossing a line by asking this, but he couldn't help himself, he wondered what the man would say, if he knew that he did indeed love Fran in return.

Xanxus didn't say anything as he peered down at Fran curiously; did he love the teen? He definitely felt more towards him than he did for Squalo, but... _Did_ Xanxus even love in the first place?

Xanxus closed his eyes as he decided that he would let his instinct choose for him. He mumbled, "I think so..." before he gave a shrug. He then growled out, "That's none of your fucking business, trash."

Fran couldn't help but smile; he was just so glad that Xanxus loved him back.

_**~~XX~~**_

Fran didn't mind that Xanxus was cutting their trip short; he was looking forward to going back home. He liked Japan; he really did, but after being stabbed, he found he would much rather recuperate in his own home.

Xanxus finalised their tickets online before he looked at his lover curled up in their bed. He moved away from the desk so that he could join the younger; he had almost lost Fran, and he couldn't remember ever being as angry as he had been that night.

Xanxus pulled Fran against his body before he muttered, "We're leaving tomorrow morning."

"I'm sorry we have to leave early." Fran snuggled in close, soothed by his lover's warmth.

"Not your fault," Xanxus promised. He didn't know what else to say, so he simply closed his eyes and relaxed.

"Xanxus?" Fran himself was almost asleep, but there was something on his mind, and it hadn't stopped bothering him ever since the attack. "Do you think Bel-senpai will ever recover? Will it help if we tell him his brother's dead?"

Xanxus shrugged. "Haven't seen him like that since Squalo found him. That's how he was for the first four years he lived with us; just stuttered and cried and pissed his pants if someone came near him without Squalo."

"Senpai really loves Squalo."

"I still don't know why he trusted Squalo enough to follow him into the house that day; he was scared of everyone else who visited, but he attached himself to Squalo's leg right away; followed him everywhere and never let go of his jacket. He wouldn't even bathe, eat or sleep without Squalo. Probably because Squalo was the first person to ever show him kindness."

Fran had always known how patient Squalo was towards his kids, but he hadn't known the long-haired man possessed such extreme levels of patience; there was no way most people would tolerate a random kid clinging to them so much, but Squalo had cared and loved enough to rehabilitate a lost and broken kid into someone who had barely shown signs of previous trauma.

"I hope senpai will be okay... I'm going to ring him soon and check on him..."

"Sleep first. I'm tired..."

Fran nodded; it had been a long day for him already, and his wound wasn't making him feel any less fatigued.

_**~~XX~~**_

It had been hard for Fran to sleep that night. He was having nightmares and his stomach was hurting him, and though Xanxus had woken up to fetch him painkillers, the man had fallen back asleep not long ago, and the teen didn't want to wake him.

Fran clutched his stomach as he slid out of bed. He tiptoed across the room and to the door, sneaking out so that he could go downstairs to sit in the living room for a while. He didn't think anyone else would be awake at this hour, so by the time he got downstairs and turned the corner into the living room, he was surprised to see the glare of the TV against a dark background. He could make out two figures on the couch, and though he tried his hardest to go backwards before they saw him, they still noticed him.

"Fran?" Takeshi gestured for the teen to come closer. He didn't say anything until Fran was sitting on the couch next to him. "What are you doing awake?"

"Couldn't sleep." With a sigh, Fran noticed that Hayato was curled up on the other side of the couch with an ice pack over his own injury. He wasn't surprised the silver-haired male was awake, too; stab wounds hurt like an absolute bitch.

"Hurting you?" Takeshi gestured to the bandages still wrapped tight around Fran's stomach. He smiled sympathetically when he received a nod in response. "Gokudera, too. He can't sleep either so we came down here just to chill for a while."

Fran nodded. "Xanxus and I are going home in the morning."

"Yeah, he said to us earlier. I'm going to come back with you guys." Takeshi smiled at the confused look his friend gave him. "I want to talk to Bel. I gave Viper a call earlier and she said he's getting worse. I'm hoping I'll be able to talk a bit of sense into him."

"Senpai's getting worse?" Fran let a visible frown appear on his face now; he was scared his friend was going to do something silly. "What happened?"

It was Hayato who spoke at this, and though he usually held a tone of disgust whenever Bel entered the conversation, this time he spoke quietly. "Viper said he's been slashing his wrists and that she caught him trying to overdose. She found him just in time; he was about to tip the bottle of pills into his mouth when she walked into the bathroom."

Fran couldn't stop himself from tearing up at these words. He shook his head before he forced himself to whisper, "What makes you think you can help him, Takeshi…?"

"Because I've been suicidal, too." Takeshi lifted his arm and pulled his sleeve back to reveal faint scars all along his wrists that looked to have long-since faded. Fran wasn't aware of the few tears that rolled down his cheeks at this; could Takeshi help his senpai, or was Bel too far gone…? "Of course, not for the same reasons Bel is… But I can understand what it's like to want to die. But I'm not like that anymore; I haven't been like that for ten years now because I was able to be happy."

"Takeshi…" Fran couldn't believe what he was hearing; so many people around him had suffered, and he hadn't even realised… Ducking his head, he whispered, "I just want my senpai to be okay…"

"He's being well-looked after; I promise. You'll get to see him again soon." Takeshi wrapped his arm around Fran's shoulders and pulled him close. "You can watch TV with us if you want; take your mind off things."

Fran nodded; there was no point in stressing himself out when there was nothing he could do until he went home. Accepting Takeshi's offer, he snuggled in against the man as his emerald eyes fixed on the screen. He didn't mind Takeshi and Hayato talking amongst themselves every now and then; he actually found it comforting enough to slowly drift off into sleep.

But even with the two by his side, his nightmares never ceased; they only seemed to get worse at knowing how badly damaged Bel had been.


	22. Chapter 22

By the time Fran and Xanxus arrived back in Italy, the first thing they did was drop Takeshi off at Mammon's home before they went into town themselves; Fran hadn't wanted to be around when Takeshi tried to help Bel because he didn't want to see just how much his friend had lost it.

So now, as Fran and Xanxus walked through the mall together as they gathered up necessities they were running low on, Fran felt so content, he could ignore the pain in his stomach. He loved how Xanxus held his hand; he didn't even care for the looks that were sent their ways; all that mattered to him was having Xanxus by his side.

"What's next on the lost?" Xanxus glared at a group of men to their left as he waited for Fran to answer him.

The teen pulled out the shopping list he had made in the car from his pocket. He scanned through the items before he said, "We need to buy another laptop charger since you left yours in Japan."

Xanxus nodded. He changed direction to head towards the nearest retail store, but before they could get far, someone called Fran's name. They turned around and were just in time to see a woman running towards them.

"Mum?" Fran wasn't sure he could believe his eyes; that was... that was his mother... Right...?

Xanxus looked down at Fran with a curious look. He cocked his head to the side before he looked back at the woman who had almost made it to their sides. He could certainly see a resemblance between them; Fran had the woman's emerald eyes and teal locks – but the question was, what was this bitch doing approaching Fran after ten years?

The man grabbed Fran's wrist and pulled be younger closer to his body. He glared at the woman for a few seconds before he growled, "Who the fuck are you?"

The woman stopped. She gave Xanxus a hesitant look before she sighed in what seemed to be resignation. "I understand… I… My name is Eveline, and that's my son…"

"What makes you think he's going to act like it's a tearful reunion?" Xanxus sneered. He had never asked Fran about his mother before, so he truly didn't understand how the younger felt about this – but he knew that, as someone who had been adopted, too, he would never accept his mother if she were to ever approach him like this – not after the way she had abandoned him to someone who wasn't even his real father. He knew full-well she only had the best intentions for Xanxus, but fucking hell… She had only made his life harder than it already was with the way she went about things. "You left him in the snow to die."

"I would never expect him to… Not after the things he went through because of me…" The woman – Eveline, as she had been introduced as – knelt down to place her hands on her son's shoulders. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared into Fran's confused emerald orbs, and it was in that moment, she felt as if she were being crushed by the weight of her past. "I just… I…"

"Mum…" Fran dropped his gaze. He honestly didn't know what to say about this; the only thing he could think about was the fact that, for the first time in his life, he was seeing his mother without bruising and looking so unhealthy from drugs and alcohol, and – and was that a… an _engagement ring _on her finger…? He reached out to brush his fingers against his mother's cheek before he whispered his observations. "…You're happy now… A-aren't you…?"

Eveline nodded. She offered a smile that was laced with tears before she cupped her son's face and leant in close enough to kiss his forehead. "I'm better now… I promise…"

Fran didn't understand; his whole life, he had thought that relationships were abusive. Even though he was with Xanxus and the man took good care of him, he had still struggled to move past that mind-set and was always prepared for the moment when his lover would hit him or scream at him. But… to see his _mother_, free from signs of abuse and actually _smiling_…

Well, Fran didn't think he had ever felt his lips twitch upwards as high as they were now.

It was true Fran hadn't known how to smile when Squalo had found him. He had been so used to his mother's scowl that he honestly had never _seen _a smile until he was adopted. Over the years he had slowly learnt to mimic the action, but he had never been able to do more than a slight one.

But this… _This _smile was genuine.

"Mum, I…" Fran was at a loss for words. He had never thought he would see his mother again, so to be here with her like this… It brought him to tears.

"Don't cry, Fran." Eveline wiped the tears away with her thumb before she hugged her child tight. She waited until Fran was able to stop crying before she said with a gentle smile, "I'm going to be married soon. I would be very honoured if you were to come."

Fran looked back to Xanxus. He had no idea how to reply, but he knew he _would _like to attend the wedding; if his mother was no longer the negligent parent she had been, he wanted her back in his life and was willing to give her another chance. He knew that people changed – he had just thought they only changed for the worse – so to see his mother finally giving him all the love he had wanted from her as a child…

It was enough for him to forget all the pain he had felt upon knowing she hadn't wanted him so long ago.

"I want to come." Gesturing behind him, Fran pointed out Xanxus. "This is my boyfriend, Xanxus. Can he come, too?"

Eveline offered a shy smile to the man who clearly didn't like her. She nodded, despite feeling uncomfortable around the other; it was obvious that he truly didn't approve of the way she had once been towards Fran – but she understood completely, and now she wanted to make it up to both Fran and Xanxus. "Of course he can, honey. I'm glad you have found someone to love."

"Can my mum come shopping with us if she's not busy?" Fran sent a hopeful look to Xanxus. He expected for the man to decline rudely but, to his sincere surprise, he received a reluctant nod after several seconds. He hugged his boyfriend tight as he gave the man the happiest smile he had ever donned; he could never have imagined this day would happen, but he was just so happy it had. Now that he had his lover's approval, he turned back to his mother. "Want to come shopping with us?"

"I would love to, sweetheart, but I've got a lot of errands I have to run." Eveline gave an apologetic look before she shrugged her handbag off her shoulder and rummaged through it in order to find a pen and paper. She scribbled on it before she gave it to Fran. "That is my number and address; you are always welcome, Fran."

Fran nodded. He tucked the paper safely in his pocket before he hugged the woman. He didn't know what he was supposed to say now; did he say that he loved her? How could he tell her that so soon after just getting her back – after how she had abandoned him? "…"

Eveline seemed to know what was on his mind. She rubbed his back before they broke apart, and then she whispered, "I hope one day you can forgive me completely and we can fix our relationship, Fran. I_ do _love you, and I want to show you that."

Fran nodded. He looked to his feet before he backed away from his mother and went back to Xanxus' side. "We're going to finish our shopping, mum. I will text you when I'm home."

"I look forward to it, honey." Eveline offered another smile to Xanxus before she went on her way.

Fran looked up at his lover, and he was glad to see that the man was calm; he felt joyful in knowing that Xanxus was leaving this one up to him; he had been worried the other wouldn't treat him as an adult and refuse to let him make his own decisions regarding his mother, but that hadn't been the case.

"Xanxus, when we're done shopping, can we have lunch at the food court?" Fran slipped his hand back into Xanxus' as they started walking again. "I kind of feel like ramen."

Xanxus nodded. When he replied, it wasn't regarding food, though. "How does that make you feel?"

"What? Ramen? Kind of hungry when I think about it, but the opposite when I eat it."

"Smartass… I mean your mother. How did that shit make you feel?"

Fran fell silent for a few seconds before he said, "Well, to be honest, it… kind of makes me feel like there's hope."

"Hope?" Xanxus had expected for a lot of things, but not for this response; how the fuck could that make him feel hope?

"Yeah. I mean… I watched my mum get bashed and raped all the time. I honestly had no idea she was so beautiful beneath all those bruises and drug-addicted look – I just… I only knew her as… pitiful… But she looks nothing like I remember her to now, and I wouldn't have recognised her if it weren't for her hair. She's… She's getting married now… And if my mum can come out of what we lived in to be happy, then… Then maybe I had been wrong all along about relationships being nothing but abuse."

Xanxus gave the younger a serious look at this. "Have _I _ever abused you?"

"No, but… Well, Squalo, of course… I honestly was just waiting for my turn…"

"What happened between Squalo and I is _between _Squalo and I, and it has nothing to do with you. I thought you were smarter than that."

Fran let out a shaky laugh. "Yeah… I just… I wasn't looking at what was in front of me and was living in the past…"

"That doesn't matter anymore; you got your answer so there's no point in dwelling on shit like that. It's over and done with." With that said, Xanxus slipped the shopping bag from his arm and shoved it into Fran's hold instead. "Now carry my shit for me; I don't know why I was carrying it in the first place; that's what _you're _here for."

"I'm not your slave, Xanxus." Fran calmly slipped the handle back over Xanxus' wrist and left it there. He felt no threat in doing so; he knew where the boundaries laid, and the man would tolerate that from him. "You carry it; my arms aren't as strong as yours."

Xanxus snorted. "It's times like these I miss that prince trash. Whenever Squalo would make me take him into town with me to 'bond', I'd make him carry all the bags. He was only too happy to do so when I told him I'd buy him candy when we were done."

"And _did _you ever give him the promised candy?" Fran already knew the answer.

"No. We'd get home and he'd watch me eat it in front of him and then he'd go cry to Squalo about it." Xanxus snorted at the memories.

"You're so mean to him, Xanxus."

"He'd get the candy _sometimes_; I had to teach him that it was a matter of _possibly _getting the candy or else he'd stop carrying shit for me altogether."

"You can be such an ass sometimes; are you trying to condition me, too?" Fran gave Xanxus a blank look, but he couldn't help but feel so fond of his lover; he enjoyed hearing the man's stories because he knew it took a lot of trust between them for the older male to tell him these things so casually.

Xanxus smirked. He glared down at Fran with an evil smirk before he said, "Perhaps. What's wrong with that?"

"Oh, boy; now I'm afraid for my life." Fran looked up as his noticed they were almost at their destination. "So lunch after here, and then we get the rest?"

Xanxus nodded. "Might as well."

With that said, the two entered the store, and Fran couldn't help but smile so sincerely, strangers smiled back at him for the first time in his life.

_**~~XX~~ **_

When Mammon texted Fran and asked for him to come and see Bel, the teen didn't hesitate to go to his friend's side. He was scared of what he would find, but he wasn't going to abandon Bel – not when the blond needed him more than ever now.

It hadn't taken long for Xanxus to drive Fran out to Mammon's home, and once he had stepped inside and made his way upstairs to the bedroom, he found several people gathered around the bed.

"Senpai?" Fran closed the door behind him before he moved to join the others. He could see his friend sitting up in his bed with one of his children on his lap, and Bel looked more tired than Fran could ever remember seeing him. He hated to see the bandages wrapped firmly around thin wrists; it was a slap in the face to know that Bel was feeling so depressed, and no one seemed to know how to help him.

Bel hummed before he looked at Fran. He was frowning, but he then donned a neutral expression when the baby on his lap started cooing and reaching up to pull at Bel's hair.

Mammon smiled from her spot next to her boyfriend. She had the other twin on her lap and her own hair was being tugged at, but she didn't mind; she loved her kids.

"Senpai, are you feeling better?" Fran took a seat on the edge of the bed next to Takeshi. He had reached out to pat Cappi's head, but he stopped when Bel hissed at him and pulled his child away.

"Don't touch him!" Fran could tell that Bel wasn't angry; he knew his friend well enough to be able to see that it was just the blond being protective of his child. Bel had always been like that; he didn't like his belongings to be touched because he couldn't trust others to not damage them – of _course _he didn't want his kids to be in 'danger' after what he had went through.

When Bel was satisfied Fran was going to keep his hands to himself, he lowered his head so that his child could tug at his hair. He didn't look at anyone around him; he was too afraid to.

It was Squalo, who had been leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest, who broke the silence. "I'm taking him to the cops later today so he can tell them about what his parents did to him."

Fran couldn't help but speak in an accusing tone. "Why didn't you take him to do that in the _first _place? This could have been avoided if you didn't protect them!"

An exhausted look crossed Squalo's face. "Because I knew he wasn't ready to talk about it, and I wasn't going to force him. It was his choice if he wanted to do it or not when he was younger, and he didn't want to."

Fran nodded. He shouldn't have tried to blame Squalo for this; the man had only ever tried his best to do what was right for Bel. Turning his attention back to Bel, he ever-so-slowly reached out towards his friend's hand until the older male finally allowed him to touch it. "Senpai is going to be okay. There's lots of people who love you and want to help you, so please stop hurting yourself…"

Bel didn't reply; he just busied himself with threading his fingers through Cappi's curly locks of hair. Takeshi was the one who spoke next.

"I'm going to stay with him for a while and take him to see a therapist since Squalo won't be able to." The Japanese male smiled as bright as ever; he was confident that with a bit of love and support, they would be able to get Bel back to his old self eventually. "And Viper is going to keep taking care of his needs and help him feel comfortable and relaxed."

Fran caressed the back of Bel's hand with his thumb. "See? Lots of people love you, senpai. I love you, too."

Bel mumbled something beneath his breath. He flinched when he felt thin arms wrap around him, but for the first time since his assault, he didn't pull away; he instead tensed up and waited until Fran had let go of him before he started whispering to Cappi and waved one of the baby's toys in front of him.

The teen looked at his wristwatch before he stood back up. "I have to go, senpai; Xanxus had to go back to the company and the bus will be here soon. I'll come back and see you soon."

Bel nodded, but he didn't say anything; he just let the other leave. By the time Fran left the house and walked to the bus stop, he had tears in his eyes; he sincerely hoped his friend would recover because the idea of Bel being like this permanently was incredibly painful.

Fran pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened up a new text message as he sat down beneath the bus shelter. He typed in his mother's number and said hello, and when she replied back in a second, he couldn't stop himself from crying harder; he was just so happy he had been able to find so much light in this dark time in his life, because he didn't know how he would be able to cope if he didn't have everyone he did there for him.

Fran wondered if he would have felt as depressed as Bel was if he had been left to deal with everything on his own. But that wasn't the case, and he wanted to help Bel the way he had people there to help him.

It was when the bus came around the corner did Fran find himself writing something to his mother he honestly hadn't expected to say so soon, if ever; _'I love you, mum'._

Fran wiped at his eyes when he received a text saying she loved him, too. He hoped that he would be able to move on and have a good life like she had been able to, and that the same could be said for Squalo and Bel who both needed love after their own life experiences. But if his mother, who had gone from a drug-addicted alcoholic who was constantly abused by her partners, could do it, then so could Fran – especially since he was with Xanxus.

Maybe the key to it was to just have a little faith that maybe not now, but one day, things would work out the way they were supposed to.


	23. Chapter 23

**This will be the last chapter. The new chapters have all differed a little from how I was going to do them originally, but it had been so long, I had to fill in some of the blanks as I forgot a little of what my original intentions were. I hope it still came out the way I had intended it to last year and that it was worth the re-writing and waiting so long for it to be continued. **

In the months that had passed, Fran had slowly become happier than he had ever been; his life wasn't perfect, but he had a boyfriend who was getting better at showing him he was loved, and he couldn't ask for better friends and family. He became closer to his mother with each passing day, and finally, the day of her wedding had arrived.

Fran was glad his mother had allowed him to invite his family to the wedding as well, because he knew it was making Xanxus a lot more comfortable during dinner to have people he knew sharing the same table with him. The only problem was, the man continuously shot Dino filthy glares every now and then and would only stop when Fran asked him to.

"Fran, honey, you look so cute in your suit~" Lussuria rested his cheek in his palm as he sent a dreamy smile to Fran. He ignored the way Xanxus' glare turned to him next and instead reached across the table in order to brush Fran's growing bangs out of his eyes. "You should wear one more often for Xanxus, if you catch my drift~"

Fran rolled his eyes. "I don't like suits; they're stuffy and uncomfortable and I look ridiculous."

"No, you don't, honey; you look so professional~" Lussuria waved a hand at Fran before he turned to Bel. He called the blond's name to get the younger to look at him before he said, "Don't you think, Bel-chan?"

"Eh?" Bel hadn't been paying attention; he had been distracted by the loud music filling the venue. He looked away as Lussuria repeated his question, and when he responded, it was after several seconds of distraction. "He still looks like a frog. Just a frog in a suit."

"And you still look like a fake prince." Fran took a bite out of his dinner. He ignored the way Bel opened his mouth to retaliate; he knew Mammon would stop him before he could cause a scene. He looked to his boyfriend's plate, and he was genuinely surprised to find the man had barely touched it. "Xanxus, aren't you going to eat your steak?"

"I don't want it unless _you _make it." Xanxus crossed his arms stubbornly against his chest.

Fran sighed. "I can't do that for you here. What if I cut it into pieces for you?"

Xanxus didn't hesitate to slide his plate closer to the younger. Squalo rolled his eyes as he remembered being in Fran's position. He missed it – he really did – but he was happy in his new relationship, and he knew it would be better for everyone to keep things how they were now.

"You know, Xanxus, if you –" Squalo yelped as he felt a sharp tug on his hair. He looked down to see the older twin, Renzo, had grabbed his hair and yanked on it. He couldn't be mad; Renzo was only a year old and didn't know better yet. He sent his kid a hopeless look before he said, "Bel… You know I don't like my hair being played with…"

Bel wasn't paying attention again; this time he was scratching at the table with his knife. He jumped in fright when Mammon smacked his hand, and he shivered slightly before he mumbled, "Why are you mad at me…?"

"I'm not, Bel; don't scratch the table." Mammon pointed to Squalo before she continued on. "Rescue him from Renzo."

Bel was grateful for the opportunity to stand up; he was feeling as restless as ever, and he didn't like being confined to his chair for so long. He gave a small smile as he approached his oldest son and pulled him out of the highchair to take him back to his own seat. "Renzo, don't pull Squ-Squ's hair; you'll make the grandpa sharky mad."

"Voi! You little bastard!" Squalo instinctively raised his hand in his annoyance, but he immediately dropped it and fell silent when Bel flinched and lost his smile. He hadn't meant to upset the younger, but for almost nineteen years he had interacted with Bel the same way; it wasn't easy to know that some things he had once done all the time now upset his charge. "…Sorry, brat…"

"…It's okay…" Bel continued frowning as he cut tiny pieces out of his dinner to feed to Renzo. He didn't look back up until Mammon put her hand on his shoulder; he just shuddered before he hesitated to lean closer to her.

Fran looked away at this. "Is he doing better, Squalo…?"

Squalo swallowed the lump in his throat before he mumbled, "Making progress…"

The teen nodded. The table fell silent at Bel's discomfort, but it was soon broken by Eveline approaching the table. She put her hands on Fran's shoulders as she smiled at her guests.

"Hello; I'm Eveline." The woman looked through the group so that she could sort through the familiar faces. She already knew Xanxus, Squalo and Dino as Fran had introduced her to them all previously, and it didn't take her long to work out who the other three were. Starting with Lussuria, she said, "You must be Lussuria? Fran's said a lot about you."

Lussuria beamed up as introduced himself. "I hope it's only good things~ He's such a good boy~"

"Yes, he is very fond of you." Turning to Mammon and Bel next, Eveline then said, "And you're Belphegor and Mammon. That dress looks so lovely."

"Thank you. It was a gift from Bel." Mammon didn't acknowledge her boyfriend moving closer to her so that he could press against her in his uneasiness; he had never done well with strangers, and after the attack, he found them harder to deal with.

The babies caught Eveline's attention now. She smiled brightly as she came to Cappi's side to get a better look. She missed the way Bel stiffened as he became alert; she was captivated by the clear joy the twins expressed. "Hello; it's nice to meet you."

"That's Cappi." Mammon reached out to wipe food from her son's face. She was glad to see the woman liked her children; she loved them dearly herself. "Bel has Renzo."

"You're both so darling." Eveline smiled before she straightened back up and returned to Fran's side. "I'm very glad you could all make it; it means a lot to know you're all here."

"I'm sorry Mukuro couldn't make it, but he had to see his sister in Japan." Fran was glad his mother wasn't offended; he would hate to feel conflicted if he had to choose between the two.

"That's fine, honey; his sister comes first, of course. Enjoy your meals, okay? I'm going to see the other guests and make sure they're okay."

Fran nodded. He pushed Xanxus' plate back to the man now that he had cut it all up. To his relief, Xanxus started to eat it. "You're going to starve to death when I'm not around."

"And who says you'll be going _anywhere _without me?" Xanxus sent the younger a challenging look, and he couldn't help but smirk in triumph when Fran raised his hand and agreed wholeheartedly; Fran knew his place, and that was what the man liked.

Lussuria chuckled and leant over to whisper something into Dino's ear. The blond laughed as he nodded in agreement, and the two turned back to stare at Fran.

"What?" The teen blinked as he waited for an answer.

"You're so whipped, it's adorable~" Lussuria giggled.

"Yeah, you guys make a cute couple." Dino offered a shy smile. He reached under the table to take Squalo's hand, and he felt his heart speed up when the long-haired man accepted it and squeezed back.

Bel whined softly as all of the attention left him. He had gotten over his upset mood, and now he wanted for everyone to give him some attention. "Why isn't anyone looking at me~?"

"Because you were distracted." Mammon tapped at Bel's dinner plate. "Eat. You're losing too much weight."

Bel sighed. He stood up and carried Renzo back to the highchair, and once he had put the baby back in it, he leant down to kiss both Renzo and Cappi's cheeks. He smiled as he heard them both calling "Dadda!", and he couldn't help but tell them that daddy loved them, too, before he returned to his chair and stuck his hands in his pocket.

Squalo gave a knowing look at this, but he didn't say anything; he instead smirked as he turned back to his dinner. Fran thought nothing of it; Bel did some strange things, so it wouldn't be surprising if he were up to mischief.

"Mammon."

Fran and Squalo looked back to Bel as they heard the blond sound serious for once. They were silent as he pulled something out of his pocket and grabbed Mammon's hand, but Fran understood immediately as he witnessed his friend slide a ring onto the woman's finger; Bel was finally proposing to his girlfriend.

Fran couldn't help but smile as Mammon said yes; he knew she had been waiting a long time for this. Even strangers could see that Bel loved her more than anything, so it was surprising to know that he had waited so long to propose – but then again, he had always procrastinated on everything, after all.

"About fucking time." Squalo picked up his wineglass and took a gulp. "Jesus, how long does it take to buy a goddamn ring?"

"Leave him alone, Squalo; he's been nervous about it." Dino smiled at Bel as he patted his lover's shoulder.

Bel scowled from where he had dropped his head against Mammon's shoulder. "Yeah, shut up, Squ. At least I did it."

Fran didn't listen to their playful banter; he instead pulled his chair closer to Xanxus so that he could rest by the man's side. He was getting tired, and as content as he was with this situation, he couldn't help but let his eyes shut and fall asleep.


End file.
